31,918 Shares in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Acquired by OP Asset Management Ltd

OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 31,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,338,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,098,000 after acquiring an additional 269,941 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,080,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,805,000 after purchasing an additional 63,583 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Hormel Foods by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,714,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,618,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,864,000 after purchasing an additional 849,357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HRL shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens boosted their price target on Hormel Foods from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 5.7%

NYSE HRL opened at $24.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.35. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.70 and a 52-week high of $31.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.65%.

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.