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

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 82.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,890,569 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Hormel Foods worth $12,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $29.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.94.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. 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.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.