Hormel Foods To Continue Navigating Rough Waters In Near Term, BMO Says

Although Hormel Foods Corp (NYSE: HRL) posted a third-quarter EPS beat, a series of volatility and headwinds could dampen the company’s growth in the near term, according to BMO Capital Markets.

The Analyst

BMO’s Kenneth Zaslow maintained a Market Perform rating on Hormel Foods, with a price target of $44.

The Thesis

For the fiscal third quarter, Hormel Foods posted an EPS beat of 1 cent as strength in Refrigerated Foods offset weakness in Grocery Products and Jennie-O, as well as the impact of a higher tax rate, Zaslow said.

Management reiterated fiscal 2019 revenue and EPS guidance. Zaslow noted that the guidance range for revenue and EPS had been lowered after the second quarter by around 3% at the midpoint.

See Also: Hormel Foods Trades Higher On Q3 Earnings Beat

Further, the company indicated revenues in fiscal 2019 could be at the lower end of the range. The analyst mentioned that Hormel Foods continues to face volatility across several commodities, which could adversely impact its earnings in the near term.

He added, however, that the company remains on track to recording cost savings of $75 million in fiscal 2019 from strategic initiatives to centralize its supply chain and that its medium-term outlook remains unchanged.

Price Action

Shares of Hormel Foods traded around $42.07 at time of publishing on Friday.