Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.29 Per Share

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 25th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Hormel Foods has raised its dividend by an average of 5.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 59 years. Hormel Foods has a payout ratio of 66.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Hormel Foods to earn $1.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.13 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.3%.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.44. 4,311,392 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,593,854. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. Hormel Foods has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.69. The company has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.