Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 156,562 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,388,125 shares of the company’s stock after selling 156,562 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.25% of Hormel Foods worth $43,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,649,000 after buying an additional 20,514 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 862,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,051,000 after buying an additional 26,121 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 9,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 929,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,170,000 after acquiring an additional 111,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HRL shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.80.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:HRL opened at $29.53 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.46 and its 200-day moving average is $30.55. The firm has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

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.