Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Price Target Raised to $28.00

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

HRL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.86.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $24.37 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Hormel Foods has a 1 year low of $21.03 and a 1 year high of $33.80. The company has a market capitalization of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 162.7% in the second quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 514.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.