12,016 Shares in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Acquired by Point72 Hong Kong Ltd

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after buying an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,297,000 after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock opened at $32.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.58. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% 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.