Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Shares Sold by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,936 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,569 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $5,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Hormel Foods by 1,490.7% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 77.4% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on HRL. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays set a $30.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.43.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $25.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.45. Hormel Foods Corporation has a twelve month low of $21.03 and a twelve month high of $32.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 3.95%.Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th were issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 12th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 134.48%.

Hormel Foods Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company’s portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.