Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 93.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,993 shares of the company's stock after selling 479,123 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 802,816 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company's stock worth $794,659,000 after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company's stock worth $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 26.1% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.
A number of research firms recently weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.17.
View Our Latest Report on HRL
In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Shares of HRL stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $30.89. 1,518,550 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,913,106. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $31.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.47. The stock has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.
Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.
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.
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