Advocate Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Advocate Group LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 97,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,319,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth $30,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 514.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price objective on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hormel Foods from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Zacks Research raised Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $30.00 price objective on Hormel Foods and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Three research 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.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.71.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.85 and its 200-day moving average is $23.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Hormel Foods Corporation has a one year low of $21.03 and a one year high of $32.07.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 4.03% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 13th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 131.46%.

About Hormel Foods

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.