Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Shares Purchased by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,229 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,518 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $101,201,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,237,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,345,000 after purchasing an additional 826,564 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,865,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,115,194,000 after purchasing an additional 805,449 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at $19,824,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 84.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,506,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,564,000 after buying an additional 690,398 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $23.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $32.07.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 12th were issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 12th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 134.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HRL. Bank of America raised their target price on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hormel Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.43.

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.