Simmons Bank Buys 1,901 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Simmons Bank lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 28.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,573 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 688.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.99. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HRL. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BNP Paribas initiated 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 on the stock. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.57.

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.