Dive Brief:
- Hormel has named chief accounting officer James Sheehan as the company's new CFO, effective in October.
- Current CFO Jody Feragen is retiring. She has been with Hormel since 2000, when she joined the company as treasurer, and served on the board since 2007.
- Sheehan has served in several finance and accounting-related positions for more than two-thirds of his 30-year career with Hormel, including an accountant, president of Hormel Financial Services, treasurer, and controller.
Dive Insight:
Srategic acquisitions and portfolio-wide ingredients changes require significant investments that necessitate a strong fiscal-minded leader at the helm. With more than two decades of experience in finance at Hormel, Sheehan has a clear understanding of where the company has come from and the investments and cutbacks it took to get there.
But the challenge will be guiding Hormel into the future and staying on top of industry trends. The recent debut of Hormel's medical foods line, developed for patients undergoing cancer treatment, is a step in that direction, Hormel will need more innovation to remain competitive.
Most recently, Hormel announced its acquisition of better-for-you snacks maker Justin's, which will be an independent subsidiary under Hormel's Grocery Products sector. Acquisitions are expected to contribute to Hormel's top line while expanding its presence in the natural and organic segments. Hormel is supporting acquisitions with internal changes, such as a recently announced commitment to simplifying ingredients and implement a clean label initiative across its portfolio.
Hormel's stock price has fallen 21% over the past three months as of premarket levels on May 25. That price is still 22% higher than 12 months ago.