Redmond Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after acquiring an additional 120,212 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 162,577 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after purchasing an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 2.8 %

Hormel Foods stock opened at $29.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.03 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

Hormel Foods 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.