California Public Employees Retirement System Has $12.25 Million Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 27.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 541,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200,596 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.10% of Hormel Foods worth $12,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 66.5% in the 3rd 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,080,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,805,000 after buying an additional 63,583 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,714,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,139,000 after buying an additional 1,557,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,618,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,864,000 after acquiring an additional 849,357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $495,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 32,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,369.02. This trade represents a 38.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE HRL opened at $25.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.33. Hormel Foods Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.70 and a twelve month high of $29.34. The company has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34.

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. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be paid a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 137.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HRL. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 target price on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.14.

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.