Brokerages Set Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Target Price at $26.00

Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.1429.

Several research firms recently issued reports on HRL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $495,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 32,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,369.02. This represents a 38.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth $85,840,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the first quarter valued at about $44,733,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,340,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 126.2% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,174,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.4%

HRL stock opened at $25.15 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.25. The company has a market cap of $13.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.94. Hormel Foods has a fifty-two week low of $19.70 and a fifty-two week high of $30.09.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 137.65%.

About Hormel Foods

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.