Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $3.36 Million Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,524 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,476 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $3,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HRL. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,649,000 after acquiring an additional 20,514 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,838,000 after acquiring an additional 116,304 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 9,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.55 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $27.59 and a 12-month high of $33.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.06 and its 200 day moving average is $30.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on HRL. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

About Hormel Foods

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.