Norges Bank Buys New Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,270,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,598,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.60% of Hormel Foods as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,257,000 after buying an additional 268,328 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after acquiring an additional 617,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,646,000 after purchasing an additional 120,212 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after purchasing an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 67.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.80.

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.