Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,247 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,522 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,014,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,734,000 after purchasing an additional 165,563 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,366,000 after buying an additional 172,110 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,450,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,679,000 after buying an additional 56,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,775,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,020,000 after acquiring an additional 81,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $35.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $41.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.80. The company has a market capitalization of $19.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.28.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for 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 was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 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 dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was 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 owns 38,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.69% 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.