Caxton Associates LLP Boosts Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Caxton Associates LLP increased its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 223.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,408 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,556 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $3,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 57,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 24,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 7,129 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 214.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 3,226 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 76.5% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 103,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,134,000 after buying an additional 44,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 30,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $495,102.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,369.02. This trade represents a 38.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HRL. Bank of America upped their target price on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 target price on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.14.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.1%

HRL stock opened at $25.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.70 and a 52-week high of $29.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 137.65%.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

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.