Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 111,454 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 929,871 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,454 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $29,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 96.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 66,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 32,410 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 88,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 6,022 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 62,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 16,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HRL opened at $28.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HRL. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price 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 issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.