Farther Finance Advisors LLC Purchases 5,115 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 34.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,849 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,115 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth $102,598,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 496.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,746 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 67.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,227,000 after buying an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other 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 sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.28. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $27.59 and a 52-week high of $33.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 85.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HRL shares. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.50.

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.