Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund reduced its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 138,752 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,838 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $29.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.10. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.03 and a 1-year high of $36.86.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

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.