Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Buys 1,542 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP grew its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,230 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,775,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,020,000 after purchasing an additional 81,970 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $470,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 158.6% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 35,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 21,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 154,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,954,000 after purchasing an additional 19,429 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,800 shares of company stock worth $1,414,872. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.3 %

HRL traded up $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.60. 2,207,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,106,181. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.37. The firm has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.27. 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 quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 6.55%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.17%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

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.