Entropy Technologies LP Makes New Investment in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $756,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth $31,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at $42,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 774.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 396.9% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.38. 129,225 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,807,030. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $41.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.56.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.2825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 80.71%.

About Hormel Foods

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.