Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $19.37 and last traded at $19.5170, with a volume of 297979 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.71.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.4%

The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 9.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 185.71%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, Chairman William A. Newlands purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.10 per share, with a total value of $201,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 76,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,137.50. The trade was a 15.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 17,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 986 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global food company headquartered in Austin, Minnesota. Founded in 1891 by George A. Hormel, the company began as a meat processor and has expanded into a broad portfolio of branded food products sold through retail, foodservice and international channels.

Its products include refrigerated and shelf-stable meat, deli meats, bacon, pepperoni, sausages, canned foods, nut products and other prepared foods. Key brands include Hormel, SPAM, Jennie-O, Applegate, Columbus and Planters.