Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Natixis

Natixis grew its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 42.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,825 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,248 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,729,000 after acquiring an additional 505,942 shares in the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 5,459,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,290,000 after acquiring an additional 108,944 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 97.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,437 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,654,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,239,000 after purchasing an additional 144,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,583,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,963,000 after purchasing an additional 196,460 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.00. 50,351 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,770,514. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.24. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $41.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.52.

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

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 80.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.