Hormel Foods Co. (HRL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.29 on February 18th

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 25th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.29 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Hormel Foods has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 59 years. Hormel Foods has a dividend payout ratio of 66.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Hormel Foods to earn $1.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.13 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.3%.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $31.62 on Wednesday. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was 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 $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.