Vestcor Inc Sells 17,182 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Vestcor Inc trimmed its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 71.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,936 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,182 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 802,816 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after acquiring an additional 742,859 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after acquiring an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after purchasing an additional 462,283 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. This represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL opened at $32.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 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.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

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.