Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Shares Gap Up to $31.25

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $31.25, but opened at $32.40. Hormel Foods shares last traded at $31.70, with a volume of 162,444 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.61.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

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.