Legal & General Group Plc Has $31.86 Million Stock Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,344,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 119,733 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $31,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HRL. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 1st quarter valued at $310,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 57,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 24,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 7,129 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 214.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 76.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 103,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,134,000 after acquiring an additional 44,906 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HRL shares. Stephens raised their price objective on Hormel Foods from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Hormel Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price target on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.67.

Key Headlines Impacting Hormel Foods

Here are the key news stories impacting Hormel Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hormel beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with broad-based segment profit growth and stronger adjusted margins supporting the stock. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $1.43 to $1.51, signaling confidence that the profit recovery can continue even after portfolio changes. PR Newswire release
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts responded by raising price targets to $25 from $22-$23, suggesting more upside is possible if the turnaround continues. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Hormel updated GAAP EPS guidance lower due to items tied to the turkey business divestiture, but said the impact on adjusted earnings should be minimal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some reports noted that profit was lower year over year, even though results still came in ahead of expectations and showed operational improvement. WSJ article

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $23.26 on Friday. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1-year low of $19.70 and a 1-year high of $31.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.80 billion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.41 and its 200-day moving average is $22.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.65%.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company’s portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.