Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Increases Position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,756 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,629 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 14.8% during the first quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 64,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 8,401 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 385,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,924,000 after buying an additional 14,669 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 18.5% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 3,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the first quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 12,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter worth about $441,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.8%

HRL stock opened at $29.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47. Hormel Foods Corporation has a one year low of $27.59 and a one year high of $33.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.01.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 85.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HRL. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.86.

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.