State Street Corp Has $794.66 Million Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 4.57% of Hormel Foods worth $794,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.2 %

HRL stock opened at $32.47 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.09 and its 200-day moving average is $31.47. The firm has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company 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 business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 77.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HRL shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods 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.