Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $28.03 and last traded at $28.27, with a volume of 4050029 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $28.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HRL. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.17. The firm has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

About Hormel Foods

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.