Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Position Trimmed by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC cut its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,253 shares of the company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,944,000 after buying an additional 34,589 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,345,000 after buying an additional 52,457 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,302,000 after buying an additional 26,390 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after buying an additional 66,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,025,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on HRL. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $28.47 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.27. The company has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 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 fifty-two week low of $28.27 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current 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 $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

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.