Holocene Advisors LP Boosts Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL – Free Report) by 56.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 802,816 shares during the quarter. Holocene Advisors LP owned about 0.41% of Hormel Foods worth $70,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $242,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 188.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 79,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after buying an additional 51,949 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 688.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after buying an additional 6,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,853,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of HRL opened at $32.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas assumed 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. Citigroup cut their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens assumed 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Hormel Foods

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HRL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL – Free Report).