KBC Group NV Sells 16,166 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 38.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,219 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,166 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,257,000 after buying an additional 268,328 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,041,000 after buying an additional 533,657 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,459,000 after buying an additional 98,442 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,500,000 after buying an additional 413,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,488,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,810,000 after buying an additional 261,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HRL. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of HRL opened at $30.69 on Friday. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.59 and a 52-week high of $33.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.13 and its 200-day moving average is $30.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

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.