UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Acquires 7,232 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,805 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,232 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,782,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HRL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,257,000 after acquiring an additional 268,328 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% during 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 lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,646,000 after purchasing an additional 120,212 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 67.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.36 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on HRL shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.80.

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.