Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

HRL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America upped 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. Zacks Research upgraded Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.29.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $23.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.33. Hormel Foods has a 1-year low of $21.03 and a 1-year high of $32.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.77. 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 (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 3.95%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,352,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526,167 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $101,201,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 297.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,198,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,815,000 after buying an additional 3,142,670 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 126.2% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,174,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,538,000 after buying an additional 1,770,852 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 97.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,010,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,750,000 after acquiring an additional 990,861 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.