Heading into the January annual meeting of its stockholders, Hormel Foods Corp. is coming off the second most profitable year in its history, and leadership is talking about the food giant continuing to evolve.

“As we look to the future, six strategic imperatives will allow us to sustain industry-leading sales and earnings,” said Jim Snee, Hormel Foods chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, in the recently published annual report. “First, we will continue evolving toward a broader food company.”

The meeting  will be at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, in the Knowlton Auditorium at Austin High School. Shareholders will vote on the Board of Directors and the executive compensation program. The company’s annual report and proxy statement — which details executive compensation and how it’s determined — are online on Hormel Foods’ website.

Hormel Foods continued to produce for its shareholders, who saw a 10 percent increase to their annual dividend, according to Wendy Watkins, vice president of corporate communications. That was the 52nd consecutive annual dividend increase.

The annual dividend on the common stock of the corporation was raised to $0.75 per share from $0.68 per share, she said. And, the Feb. 15 dividend payment will be the 358th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company. Since becoming a public company in 1928, Hormel Foods Corporation has paid a regular quarterly dividend without interruption.

Hormel was ranked no. 67 among the Most Effectively Managed U.S. Companies by the Drucker Institute and the Wall Street Journal, and no. 8 in the 100 Best Corporate Citizens (above Pepsico, Walt Disney, General Mills, Nike and 3M).

With news such as that in the background, stockholders will vote on the 2018 Incentive Compensation Plan and take an advisory vote on executive compensation. In 2017, taking into account bonuses, incentives, deferred compensation and more, the five most highly compensated executive officers at the end of fiscal 2017, cumulatively earned about $19 million, according to the proxy statement. Snee’s total compensation, including his base salary of $849,940, was about $6.3 million. Total compensation for the other four ranged from $2.4 million to nearly $5 million.

The Board of Directors employs the services of a consultant in determining executive pay and studies the market. The proxy statement  listed 20 similar size food companies in a pay and performance peer group, which is one tool used in the assessment of executive pay. The list includes Campbell Soup, General Mills, Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., Tyson Foods Inc. and more.

According to the latest proxy statement for  General Mills, its chairman and CEO, Kendall J. Powell, earned about $9.2 million in total compensation in 2017 with a base salary of roughly $1.2 million. Tyson Foods Inc.’s president and CEO, Tom Hayes, received $8.9 million in total compensation in 2017 with a base salary of about $1.1 million.

Hormel’s executive compensation programs are designed to achieve two primary goals: Attract and retain highly qualified executive officers and incent the behavior of executive officers to create stockholder value, the proxy statement said.

At the 2017 annual meeting, shareholders voted 97.85 in favor of the company’s executive compensation.

The ballot for Board of Directors will not include John L Morrison in January, who  is retiring when his term expires Jan. 30. The 12 nominees for the board are:

• Gary D. Bhojwani, 49, president of CNO Financial Group Inc., a provider of insurance and retirement products, has been on the board since 2014, He will become the chief executive officer of CNO on Jan. 1.

• Terrell K. Crews, 62, a retired Monsanto Company executive, has been a director since 2007.

• Dr. Glenn S. Forbes, 70, a retired past CEO of Mayo Clinic-Rochester, has been a director since 2011.

• Stephen M. Lacy, 63, the board chairman and CEO of Meredith Corp., a media and marketing company, has been a director since 2011.

• Dr. Elsa A. Murano, 58, director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture ad Texas A&M University.

• Robert C. Nakasone, 69, is the CEO of NAK Enterprises, an investment and consulting business, has been a director since 2006

• Susan K. Nestegard, 57, an advisor for True Wealth Ventures, a venture capital fund, has been a director since 2009.

• Dakota A. Pippins, 69, president and CEO of Pippins Strategies, LLC, a marketing consulting company, has been a director since 2001.

• Christopher Policinski, 59, president and CEO of Land O’Lakes, Inc., has been a director since 2012

• Sally J. Smith, 59, president and CEO of Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc., has been a director since 2014.

• James P. Snee, 50, Hormel Foods president, CEO and chairman of the board, has been a director since 2015.

• Steven A. White, 57, president, Comcast West Division, of Comcast Corp., an entertainment and communications company, has been a director since 2014.

Only stockholders of record at the close of business Dec. 1 can vote at this annual meeting. Hormel had 529,585,006 shares of common stock outstanding as of Dec. 1.