Tobam Sells 143,161 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Tobam lessened its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 56.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 109,443 shares of the company’s stock after selling 143,161 shares during the period. Tobam’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $3,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 16,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,343 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 39,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 929,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,170,000 after buying an additional 111,454 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 96.1% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 66,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 32,410 shares during the period. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $29.19 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.41. The firm has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HRL. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.