Grandfield & Dodd LLC Acquires 10,623 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 975,923 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,623 shares during the period. Hormel Foods makes up approximately 1.9% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $30,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $102,598,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position 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 period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690,746 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Man Group plc raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 186.0% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,041,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,667,000 after acquiring an additional 677,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $29.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.01. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $33.80.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded 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 upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.86.

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.