Hormel Foods Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:HRL)

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 5,455 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 160% compared to the average daily volume of 2,096 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.80.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE HRL traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 220,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,391,311. Hormel Foods has a 1 year low of $27.59 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

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.