Dividend Assets Capital LLC Sells 1,714 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Dividend Assets Capital LLC decreased its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,714 shares during the quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $29.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.17. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.03 and a twelve month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th were given a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

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.