Brokerages Set Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Price Target at $27.71

Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.7143.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $30.00 price objective on Hormel Foods and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,595,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,121,000 after buying an additional 729,942 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,338,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,098,000 after acquiring an additional 269,941 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,352,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526,167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,080,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,805,000 after acquiring an additional 63,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,714,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,595 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of HRL opened at $22.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.66. Hormel Foods has a 52-week low of $21.03 and a 52-week high of $32.07.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 4.03%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. Analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 131.46%.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company’s portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.