Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 4,308 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lowered its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,412 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,308 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HRL. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,729,000 after purchasing an additional 505,942 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Hormel Foods by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,043,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.2 %

Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.61 and a 200 day moving average of $32.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.25. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This 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 worth $2,288,338 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.