Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

Several analysts have commented on HRL shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report 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 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 95,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE HRL opened at $30.84 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods has a 1 year low of $27.59 and a 1 year high of $33.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $30.01 and its 200 day moving average is $30.27.

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

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 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.