QV Investors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

QV Investors Inc. reduced its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 263,510 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,550 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $8,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. State Street Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,646,000 after purchasing an additional 120,212 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after buying an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HRL shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $30.25. 929,729 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,958,310. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $31.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.49.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.