Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 28.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,300,341 shares of the company's stock after selling 892,947 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.42% of Hormel Foods worth $70,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 154,437 shares of the company's stock worth $4,959,000 after acquiring an additional 11,026 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,021,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,181,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 31,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $2,694,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Hormel Foods from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:HRL traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.55. 3,643,241 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,681,295. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $40.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.6 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.

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