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

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 82.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and 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 0.07% of Hormel Foods worth $12,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company's stock worth $54,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,867,000 after acquiring an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 26.1% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company's stock worth $49,479,000 after buying an additional 322,645 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target 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 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Two equities research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.57.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 3.9 %

NYSE:HRL traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,146,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,092,168. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 presently 79.58%.

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.