Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Trims Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,047 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,545 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after buying an additional 120,212 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 67.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,810,000 after buying an additional 1,175,087 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after buying an additional 802,816 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HRL shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.80.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.2 %

HRL opened at $30.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.77. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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.