Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Capital Investment Counsel Inc

Capital Investment Counsel Inc decreased its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,850 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $217,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $31.19 on Thursday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 80.71%.

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.