Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $150,000 Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 44.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,837 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,646,000 after purchasing an additional 120,212 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 56.0% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 802,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $28.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.20. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.03 and a 52-week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (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 net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of a number of research 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 research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

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.