Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Cuts Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB cut its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $28.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.04 and its 200 day moving average is $31.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 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 firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 79.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% 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.