Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 600 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB decreased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 802,816 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,297,000 after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 26.1% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,479,000 after purchasing an additional 322,645 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.4 %

Hormel Foods stock opened at $28.99 on Wednesday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.36. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 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 return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 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. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on HRL shares. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

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.