Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Position Increased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 4.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,245,614 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,204 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $67,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,865,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,115,194,000 after purchasing an additional 805,449 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,886,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,589,000 after buying an additional 166,152 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Hormel Foods by 10.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,157,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,594,000 after acquiring an additional 405,719 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $101,201,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Hormel Foods by 1.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,007,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,051,000 after acquiring an additional 41,236 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.9%

Hormel Foods stock opened at $24.37 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Hormel Foods Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $33.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.69. The firm has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 3.95%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.51 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 price objective on Hormel Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.86.

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.