G&S Capital LLC Buys 569 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

G&S Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,053 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the quarter. G&S Capital LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,646,000 after acquiring an additional 120,212 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,570,000 after acquiring an additional 162,577 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after acquiring an additional 802,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,548,000 after purchasing an additional 66,261 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HRL. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $28.55 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.92 and its 200-day moving average is $31.32. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

About Hormel Foods

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.