Hormel Foods Co. (HRL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.29 on August 15th

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 19th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of 0.29 per share on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th.

Hormel Foods has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 60 years. Hormel Foods has a dividend payout ratio of 64.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Hormel Foods to earn $1.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.0%.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $30.15 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of Hormel Foods 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth approximately $310,000. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Hormel Foods by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 24,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 7,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 57,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Company 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.