Keynote Financial Services LLC Purchases New Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 186,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,993,000 after buying an additional 28,039 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after buying an additional 13,041 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $984,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 82,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,195,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,633,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,669. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.54. The company has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.73. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $41.73.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 6.37%. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Hormel Foods 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.