Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Rating Increased to Neutral at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has $30.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.22 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $35.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.26. 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 stock has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 84.67%.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $102,598,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,335,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,024 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 496.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,100 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 485.7% during the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,963,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,382 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.