Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,123 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced 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. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $29.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.03 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.12.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.