Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 39.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,493 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,558 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,595,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,121,000 after purchasing an additional 729,942 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,338,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,098,000 after purchasing an additional 269,941 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 66.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,167 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,618,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,864,000 after purchasing an additional 849,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 12.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,156,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,570,000 after purchasing an additional 590,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.67.

Hormel Foods News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Hormel Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hormel beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with broad-based segment profit growth and stronger adjusted margins supporting the stock. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $1.43 to $1.51, signaling confidence that the profit recovery can continue even after portfolio changes. PR Newswire release
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts responded by raising price targets to $25 from $22-$23, suggesting more upside is possible if the turnaround continues. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Hormel updated GAAP EPS guidance lower due to items tied to the turkey business divestiture, but said the impact on adjusted earnings should be minimal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some reports noted that profit was lower year over year, even though results still came in ahead of expectations and showed operational improvement. WSJ article

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:HRL opened at $23.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $21.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.97. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.70 and a 1 year high of $31.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.46%.

Hormel Foods Company 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.