Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 66.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,069 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after acquiring an additional 162,577 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after acquiring an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after acquiring an additional 802,816 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

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

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $32.94 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Stephens initiated 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on 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 issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.