Hormel Foods Co. (HRL) To Go Ex-Dividend on January 13th

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 25th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.29 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Hormel Foods has raised its dividend by an average of 4.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 60 consecutive years. Hormel Foods has a dividend payout ratio of 63.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Hormel Foods to earn $1.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.0%.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of HRL opened at $30.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Company 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.