Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $6.64 Million Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 211,574 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,984 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $6,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 56.0% in 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 during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 328.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 26.1% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,479,000 after acquiring an additional 322,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $103,570,000 after acquiring an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:HRL opened at $29.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.23 and its 200-day moving average is $31.41. The firm has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm 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 an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 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.