Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.01 Million Holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 452,925 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,657 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Hormel Foods worth $14,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $1,330,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $7,891,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 67,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 53,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HRL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 3.3%

HRL opened at $30.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.33. Hormel Foods Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $33.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.04.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

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.