Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,261 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,120 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HRL. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 58.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,764,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,300 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,868,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,866,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,133 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Hormel Foods by 41.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,241,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,252,000 after purchasing an additional 947,576 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 78.3% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,976,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,506,000 after purchasing an additional 868,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on HRL shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $34.89. 2,244,089 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,279,487. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.49. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $41.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.86. The company has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.28.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

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.