Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $868,000 Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,569 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.5% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the third quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HRL. Stephens initiated coverage on 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. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $30.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.84 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.46.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

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.