Liberty One Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 862,308 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,121 shares during the quarter. Hormel Foods comprises about 2.9% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Liberty One Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Hormel Foods worth $27,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE HRL opened at $29.93 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.46.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.40%.

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.