529,548 Shares in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 529,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,612,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,944,000 after purchasing an additional 34,589 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 13.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,345,000 after buying an additional 52,457 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,302,000 after buying an additional 26,390 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,025,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price target 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

HRL opened at $28.47 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.27 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.27. The company has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

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.