Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Hormel Foods updated its FY 2025 guidance to 1.580-1.720 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $1.58-1.72 EPS.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.0 %

HRL stock opened at $31.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

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 given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on HRL. Citigroup dropped their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last 90 days. 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.