Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,930,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the July 15th total of 9,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $32.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.73. Hormel Foods has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $40.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.25 and a 200-day moving average of $32.67.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.33.

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.