Commerce Bank Has $940,000 Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Commerce Bank lowered its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,661 shares of the company’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second 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. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 328.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,297,000 after buying an additional 394,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 72,421 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.6 %

HRL opened at $30.67 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.05 and a 200 day moving average of $31.71. The company has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.58%.

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.