First Nebraska Trust Co Acquires Shares of 552,583 Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 552,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,516,000. Hormel Foods comprises about 1.2% of First Nebraska Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 28,338,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,098,000 after purchasing an additional 269,941 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 66.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,352,000 after buying an additional 4,526,167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,080,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,805,000 after buying an additional 63,583 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,849,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,152,000 after buying an additional 134,983 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,618,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,864,000 after buying an additional 849,357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $25.03 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $13.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.70 and a 1 year high of $29.34.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.74%. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 137.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $495,102.00. Following the sale, the director owned 32,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,369.02. The trade was a 38.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.14.

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.