Choreo LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Choreo LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,965 shares of the company’s stock after selling 591 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,944,000 after purchasing an additional 34,589 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,345,000 after buying an additional 52,457 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,302,000 after buying an additional 26,390 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,025,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $29.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.11 and a 200 day moving average of $31.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost 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 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

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.