Ellsworth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,120 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 20,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 8,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Gries Financial LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 41,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of HRL traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $34.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,244,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,279,487. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $41.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.74 and its 200 day moving average is $32.86. The firm has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.28.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.2825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 77.40%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.