Exeter Financial LLC Acquires 381 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,809 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HRL. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 91.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $30.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $16.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $33.84.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HRL. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.