Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Coverage Initiated at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an underperform rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HRL. Stephens began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $31.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.42. The firm has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.25. Hormel Foods has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 80.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth about $213,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 100.7% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 85,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,989,000 after buying an additional 42,972 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 99.3% during the 1st quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 12,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 6,219 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth about $610,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hormel Foods

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.