Insider Buying: Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) SVP Purchases 830 Shares of Stock

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) SVP Katherine M. Losness-Larson acquired 830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.12 per share, for a total transaction of $24,999.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $479,058.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $30.49 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.66. The stock has a market cap of $16.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.25. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $41.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 6.37%. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.67.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $62,323,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,437 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 9.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,729,000 after acquiring an additional 505,942 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 40.6% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,221,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,606,000 after acquiring an additional 352,896 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 1st quarter worth about $10,140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

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.