Korea Investment CORP Sells 56,151 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 23.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,151 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $5,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HRL. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 42,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 34.2% in the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 27,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 6,972 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 77.4% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 208.7% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 745,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,539,000 after buying an additional 503,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 102.4% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 4,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $23.30 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $33.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.29.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be paid a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $27.00 target price on Hormel Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.86.

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.