Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes $418,000 Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HRL shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $28.56 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.20. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.03 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released 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). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

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.