Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Sells 432 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lowered its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 432 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $653,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HRL. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 29.9% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 50,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 11,652 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth $608,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 104.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 152,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,756,000 after buying an additional 77,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 360,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,578,000 after purchasing an additional 40,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.24.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

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.