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

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 404,268 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,504 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $12,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HRL. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $28.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.07. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The firm has a market cap of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.