Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $25.43 According to Analysts

Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.43.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Stephens set a $23.00 target price on Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. BNP Paribas Exane restated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman William A. Newlands bought 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.10 per share, with a total value of $201,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman owned 76,375 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,137.50. The trade was a 15.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $489,092,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,787,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $44,733,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $36,876,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $32,446,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $22.18 on Wednesday. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $18.96 and a 52 week high of $26.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 9.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 185.71%.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation is a branded food company that produces and markets meat and other food products for retail, foodservice and other customers. Its offerings include pork, turkey and other meat products, as well as refrigerated and shelf-stable foods. The company’s brands include Hormel, SPAM, Jennie-O, Skippy, Applegate and Planters. Its products are sold in the United States and in international markets. Founded in 1891 by George A. Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, the company has grown from a local meatpacking business into a diversified food producer.