Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Trims Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. cut its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,627 shares of the company’s stock after selling 672 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 12,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,855,000 after purchasing an additional 35,731 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $1,164,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,510,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,455,000 after buying an additional 167,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $1,537,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HRL shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $34.74 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $41.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.21 and a 200 day moving average of $32.40.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,800 shares of company stock worth $1,414,872. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.