Prospera Private Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after buying an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after acquiring an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings 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 worth $16,297,000 after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.67 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.76. The stock has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.