Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires Shares of 6,237 Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 6,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 100.5% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 516.5% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 2,133 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 23.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Piper Sandler raised 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. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $539,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,381,015. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were 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 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 quarter. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $35.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $34.66 and a 200-day moving average of $32.53. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $41.73. The company has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.40%.

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.