Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 2,966 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 372,875 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. owned about 0.07% of Hormel Foods worth $11,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth about $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on HRL shares. 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 on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $31.92 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. 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 3.63%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.