Palisade Asset Management LLC Sells 7,338 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 180,301 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,338 shares during the quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $5,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 80.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 69,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 30,879 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,345,000 after buying an additional 52,457 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 18,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.9% during the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,302,000 after purchasing an additional 26,390 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HRL shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.6 %

Hormel Foods stock 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 P/E ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.76.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.282 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

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.