Analysts Set Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) PT at $32.50

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HRL shares. BNP Paribas raised Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 690 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE HRL opened at $31.11 on Wednesday. Hormel Foods has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $33.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.01 and a 200-day moving average of $30.30. The firm has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

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.