Semanteon Capital Management LP Buys New Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $860,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,014,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,734,000 after buying an additional 165,563 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,366,000 after purchasing an additional 172,110 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,510,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,455,000 after purchasing an additional 167,920 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 28.0% during the third quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,959,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,504,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,775,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,020,000 after purchasing an additional 81,970 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE HRL traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,043,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,077,666. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $41.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.71 and a 200 day moving average of $32.41.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 77.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HRL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

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.