Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $28.79 Million Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 908,086 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72,941 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.17% of Hormel Foods worth $28,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after purchasing an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,297,000 after purchasing an additional 394,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. This represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 41.61 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $29.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.23 and a 200 day moving average of $31.89. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.