Rhumbline Advisers Has $24.21 Million Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 978,585 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35,772 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $24,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $101,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,865,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,115,194,000 after purchasing an additional 805,449 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $19,824,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 84.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,506,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,564,000 after purchasing an additional 690,398 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,671,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,495,000 after purchasing an additional 582,664 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE HRL opened at $23.78 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52 week low of $21.03 and a 52 week high of $32.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.50. The company has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be issued a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 134.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Stephens decreased their price target on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $30.00 target price on Hormel Foods and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.43.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company’s portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.