Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $3.45 Million Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 67.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,000 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,298 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $3,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $418,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 115,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,616,000 after acquiring an additional 7,377 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 59,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE HRL opened at $29.66 on Monday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.03 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for 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%. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

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.