MML Investors Services LLC Lowers Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

MML Investors Services LLC lessened its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL – Get Rating) by 34.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,174 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,265 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 879.6% in the third quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $59,000. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 132.9% in the third quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 56.5% during the second quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Patrick J. Connor sold 1,577 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.88, for a total transaction of $73,929.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,682 shares in the company, valued at $1,063,332.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on Hormel Foods from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Argus raised their price objective on Hormel Foods from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 30th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Hormel Foods from $45.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, TheStreet cut Hormel Foods from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.63.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $40.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $39.85 and a one year high of $55.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.18.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.05). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Hormel Foods

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Hormel Foods Corp. engages in the production of meat and food products. It operates through the following segments: Grocery Products, Refrigerated Foods, Jennie-O Turkey Store, and International and Other. The Grocery Products segment focuses on the processing, marketing, and sale of shelf-stable food products sold in the retail market.