Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.00.

A number of analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,800 shares of company stock worth $1,414,872 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,014,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,734,000 after buying an additional 165,563 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 9.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,729,000 after acquiring an additional 505,942 shares during the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. raised its position in Hormel Foods by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 5,459,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,290,000 after acquiring an additional 108,944 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,366,000 after purchasing an additional 172,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 97.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,437 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock opened at $35.39 on Friday. Hormel Foods has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $41.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.53.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 6.55%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.2825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.40%.

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.