Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Increases Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 328.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 514,116 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.09% of Hormel Foods worth $16,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after buying an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,729,000 after buying an additional 505,942 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after acquiring an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after acquiring an additional 412,313 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $31.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.57.

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.