Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Decreases Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 110,918 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,662 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $3,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth about $232,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 68,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 4,331 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP now owns 16,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $35.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $41.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $33.84 and its 200 day moving average is $32.41.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 6.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Two investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.