YANKCOM Partnership Takes Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after buying an additional 120,212 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 56.0% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after buying an additional 802,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after buying an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $29.19 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.41.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HRL shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

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.