Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 409,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,890,569 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $12,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of HRL stock opened at $31.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.46. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. 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 (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

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.