Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Palisade Asset Management LLC

Palisade Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 205,281 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,790 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $6,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,014,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,734,000 after acquiring an additional 165,563 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,366,000 after acquiring an additional 172,110 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,510,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,455,000 after purchasing an additional 167,920 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 28.0% during the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,959,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,504,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 81,970 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on HRL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL traded down $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $35.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,196,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,975,328. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.57 and a 200-day moving average of $32.51. The company has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.28. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $41.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

Hormel Foods 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.