Champlain Investment Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 11.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,569,812 shares of the company’s stock after selling 739,785 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $176,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth $220,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 25.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 31,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,422 shares during the period. Natixis raised its position in Hormel Foods by 42.9% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 30,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 9,248 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 44.1% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 164,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,744,000 after acquiring an additional 50,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 62.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 582,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,322,000 after acquiring an additional 224,978 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $30.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The stock has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.05 and a 200-day moving average of $31.76.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.282 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

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.