Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,492 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $30.53 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.67%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related 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 transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.33.

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.