Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $418,000 in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,944,000 after acquiring an additional 34,589 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,345,000 after purchasing an additional 52,457 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.9% during the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,302,000 after buying an additional 26,390 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,548,000 after buying an additional 66,261 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,025,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their target price 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, Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock opened at $28.56 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.20. The stock has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.03 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.