Maverick Capital Ltd. Invests $3.88 Million in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 171,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,875,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 66.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,167 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $85,840,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 1st quarter valued at $44,733,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $43,340,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,174,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,538,000 after buying an additional 1,770,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $26.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Hormel Foods Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $19.70 and a fifty-two week high of $29.34. The stock has a market cap of $14.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $495,102.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 32,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,369.02. The trade was a 38.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HRL. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 target price on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.14.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company’s portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.