Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires New Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 29,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,595,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,121,000 after purchasing an additional 729,942 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,338,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,098,000 after acquiring an additional 269,941 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,352,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526,167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,080,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,805,000 after acquiring an additional 63,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 30.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,714,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,595 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $24.78 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.65 and its 200 day moving average is $23.07. Hormel Foods Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.70 and a fifty-two week high of $31.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 target price on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on Hormel Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.67.

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.