Vestcor Inc Sells 17,182 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 71.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,936 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,182 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $39,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $32.94 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.43. The company has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. 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 (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on HRL. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

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.