Hormel Foods Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HRL)

Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 5,653 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 84% compared to the average daily volume of 3,069 call options.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 77,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,385,000 after purchasing an additional 7,534 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the first quarter worth approximately $494,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 72,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 4,291 shares during the period. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 50,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 12,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth $1,376,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Hormel Foods from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price objective on Hormel Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.86.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of HRL traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.84. The company had a trading volume of 3,706,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,672,685. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.79. The stock has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Hormel Foods has a 1-year low of $21.03 and a 1-year high of $33.80.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 6.26%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.51 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

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.