Prospera Private Wealth LLC Purchases New Shares in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.76. The stock has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.26. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.58%.

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.