Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $1.68 Million Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 31.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,580 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,649,000 after buying an additional 20,514 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 862,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,051,000 after acquiring an additional 26,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 929,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,170,000 after acquiring an additional 111,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on HRL shares. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.80.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.67. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

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.