Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 155,200 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,596 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,646,000 after acquiring an additional 120,212 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after acquiring an additional 162,577 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HRL. Citigroup cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $32.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.14 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.41. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued 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). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. This represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.