Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Holdings Boosted by Raymond James Trust N.A.

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,788 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,236 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $31.44 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its 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 return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on HRL. Citigroup dropped their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods 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 directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.