abrdn plc Increases Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 380,324 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 69,745 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned about 0.07% of Hormel Foods worth $12,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $86,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 109,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 18,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifePlan Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $446,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE HRL opened at $35.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.41. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $41.73.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $539,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,381,015. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Foodservice, and International segments. The company provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others.