Caprock Group LLC Cuts Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Caprock Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,728 shares of the company’s stock after selling 440 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.67 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.74.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on HRL. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.