Schroder Investment Management Group Boosts Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 4th, 2023

Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL – Get Rating) by 49.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,796 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,131 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,040,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,240,000 after acquiring an additional 736,656 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.9% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,480,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,339,595,000 after acquiring an additional 258,643 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,499,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,249,570,000 after acquiring an additional 498,351 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 3,662,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,834,000 after acquiring an additional 271,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,764,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,300 shares during the last quarter. 39.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock opened at $40.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $39.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.09. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $37.78 and a 52-week high of $51.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 2.42.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 1st. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 14th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.33%.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, Director Becerra Jose Luis Prado sold 5,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.01, for a total transaction of $202,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,174.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 6,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.50, for a total value of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 102,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,159,269. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Becerra Jose Luis Prado sold 5,200 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.01, for a total transaction of $202,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,174.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Thursday. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.71.

Hormel Foods Profile

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Hormel Foods Corp. engages in the production of meat and food products. It operates through the following segments: Grocery Products, Refrigerated Foods, Jennie-O Turkey Store, and International and Other. The Grocery Products segment focuses on the processing, marketing, and sale of shelf-stable food products sold in the retail market.