New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 47,000 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 649,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $20,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $418,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in Hormel Foods by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 115,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,616,000 after purchasing an additional 7,377 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 59,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HRL. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE HRL opened at $29.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.15. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.03 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Company 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.