New Century Financial Group LLC Has $211,000 Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,738 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 392 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after acquiring an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after purchasing an additional 120,212 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after purchasing an additional 162,577 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after buying an additional 802,816 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.46. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Hormel Foods Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Foodservice, and International segments. The company provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others.