Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) in a report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.19% from the stock’s previous close.

HRL has been the subject of several other reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America upgraded 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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, May 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.39 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.33. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $33.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $102,598,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,335,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,270,000 after buying an additional 2,312,024 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 496.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,100 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Hormel Foods by 466.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 485.7% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,963,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,382 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.