Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.8571.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price (down from $36.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $22.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.05. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $21.03 and a 12 month high of $33.80. The firm has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.06). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 6.26%.The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hormel Foods has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.380-0.400 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 1.430-1.450 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 12th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.67%.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,352,000 after buying an additional 4,526,167 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth $101,201,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Hormel Foods by 297.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,198,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,815,000 after purchasing an additional 3,142,670 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,174,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings 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 worth $60,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,382 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

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.