Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,442 shares of the company’s stock after selling 625 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $29.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.94. The stock has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.58%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.