Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Short Interest Update

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,930,000 shares, a drop of 6.2% from the July 15th total of 9,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HRL. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth about $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $32.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.73 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.67. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $40.12.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on HRL. Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.33.

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.