Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.29 Per Share

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 25th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Hormel Foods has increased its dividend by an average of 4.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 60 consecutive years. Hormel Foods has a payout ratio of 63.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Hormel Foods to earn $1.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.0%.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $30.01 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on HRL shares. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Company 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.