Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,890,569 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 82.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 409,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,890,569 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $12,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 735,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,418,000 after purchasing an additional 152,800 shares during the period. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth $11,811,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 110.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after acquiring an additional 19,571 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 404,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,112,000 after acquiring an additional 17,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 62,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 28,594 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 3.9 %

HRL opened at $29.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.23 and a 200 day moving average of $31.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The firm has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.57.

About Hormel Foods

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.