Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,621,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,840,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 107.5% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 456,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 236,637 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 11.2% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,769,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,735,000 after purchasing an additional 581,006 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,595,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,121,000 after purchasing an additional 729,942 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,042,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,408,000 after purchasing an additional 171,137 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 297.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,198,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,815,000 after purchasing an additional 3,142,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.67.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $23.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Hormel Foods Corporation has a one year low of $19.70 and a one year high of $31.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.65%.

Hormel Foods Profile

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.