Swiss National Bank Acquires 63,600 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 887,900 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 63,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $20,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 8,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 55,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 15,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 25,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 8,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.14.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of HRL opened at $25.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52 week low of $19.70 and a 52 week high of $29.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.94. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 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, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $495,102.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,369.02. The trade was a 38.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

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.