Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,504 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & 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. owned about 0.07% of Hormel Foods worth $12,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE HRL opened at $28.45 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

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.