Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Grows Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 68,497 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,331 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 100.5% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.5% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 2,133 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $35.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.37. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $41.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.27.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

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

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.