Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,282 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,429 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 30.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 12,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,855,000 after acquiring an additional 35,731 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $1,164,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 7.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,510,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,455,000 after acquiring an additional 167,920 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $1,537,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on HRL. Barclays boosted their target price on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at $2,381,015. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $539,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sold a total of 40,800 shares of company stock worth $1,414,872 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

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. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $41.73. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.71 and its 200 day moving average is $32.41.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 6.55%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 77.40%.

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.