MCF Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,816 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 571,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,931,000 after buying an additional 102,141 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 735,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,418,000 after acquiring an additional 152,800 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $756,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 360,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,578,000 after purchasing an additional 40,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 774.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:HRL traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.06. 1,173,836 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,072,360. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.76 and a 200 day moving average of $32.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm 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%. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.282 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HRL. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.57.

Hormel Foods 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.