BTS Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

BTS Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $531,000. Hormel Foods comprises 0.5% of BTS Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,944,000 after buying an additional 34,589 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,345,000 after buying an additional 52,457 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,302,000 after purchasing an additional 26,390 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth $1,025,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE HRL opened at $29.93 on Friday. 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 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.46.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 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 $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Company 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.