Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Acquires New Shares in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in Hormel Foods by 56.0% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after acquiring an additional 802,816 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second 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. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on HRL shares. BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $32.34 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.40.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.