Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 12,596 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 155,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,596 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $32.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.26 and its 200 day moving average is $31.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

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

Hormel Foods 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.