Sapient Capital LLC Invests $263,000 in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 30.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 12,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,855,000 after purchasing an additional 35,731 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth $1,164,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,510,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,455,000 after buying an additional 167,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $1,537,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of HRL opened at $33.90 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $41.73. The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HRL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,800 shares of company stock worth $1,414,872 in the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.