Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,574 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,984 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $6,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 802,816 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,297,000 after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,479,000 after acquiring an additional 322,645 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,570,000 after purchasing an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE HRL opened at $29.19 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

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.