iSAM Funds UK Ltd Takes Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $586,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,514 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 116,304 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,227,000 after buying an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,228,000 after buying an additional 9,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $30.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Hormel Foods

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.