HRL vs LW vs PPC Stock Comparison

Hormel Foods, Lamb Weston Holdings and Pilgrims Pride Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HRL Hormel Foods Corp /De/
$20.95 +6.3% 1M -12.1% 1Y
Market cap
$11.51B
P/E
33.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.15B
Div. yield
0.06%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
4 wins
LW Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.
$53.64 +23.0% 1M -19.2% 1Y
Market cap
$7.40B
P/E
29.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.62B
Div. yield
0.03%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
2 wins
PPC Pilgrims Pride Corp
$27.33 -1.8% 1M -27.1% 1Y
Market cap
$6.45B
P/E
11.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.44B
Div. yield
–
Meat and Poultry Consumer Staples
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Pilgrims Pride leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Pilgrims Pride 6, Hormel Foods 4, Lamb Weston Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHRLLWPPCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.51B $7.40B $6.45B HRL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.6x 29.0x 11.8x PPC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.0x 17.5x 12.8x PPC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.7% +2.6% +1.4% LW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.8% 3.8% 3.0% LW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.5% 6.4% 9.5% PPC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 4.1x 1.8x PPC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.06% 0.03% 0.00% HRL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.1% -19.2% -27.1% HRL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -13.1%/yr -1.4%/yr -1.1%/yr PPC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.0% 45.6% 35.4% HRL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 47/100 67/100 PPC

Percentile Scorecard

HRLLWPPC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHRLLWPPC
Valuation 66 #16 of 45 52 #22 of 45 73 #10 of 34
Growth 27 #31 of 42 37 #27 of 42 63 #12 of 31
Profitability 49 #21 of 40 72 #12 of 40 79 #7 of 29
Financial Health 74 #13 of 47 35 #31 of 47 53 #18 of 37
Shareholder Returns 30 #22 of 31 40 #19 of 31 –
Overall 49 47 67
  • HRL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • LW ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • PPC ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHRLLWPPCSPY
1 month +6.3%+23.0%-1.8% -0.8%
3 months -19.6%+0.9%-6.4% +3.5%
6 months -2.4%+23.8%-17.5% +7.0%
Year to date -11.6%+28.0%-29.9% +12.2%
1 year -12.1%-19.2%-27.1% +13.0%
3 years -33.3%-39.6%+11.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year -12.6%-15.5%+3.7% +23.1%
5 years -50.4%-6.6%-5.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year -13.1%-1.4%-1.1% +11.0%
10 years -45.0%—+32.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year -5.8%—+2.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureHRLLWPPCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.0%45.6%35.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.8%54.4%36.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.180.22-0.08 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.40-0.42-0.77 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.0%-66.6%-55.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.0%-19.4%-37.5% -1.8%
52-week high $26.51$66.57$43.76 $779.14
52-week low $19.20$38.48$25.20 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHRLLWPPC
P/E now vs peer median 33.7xmedian 20.5x 29.0xmedian 20.5x 11.9xmedian 15.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 0.8x 1.1xmedian 0.8x 0.4xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.5xmedian 12.3x 12.1xmedian 12.3x 6.4xmedian 9.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 14.0x 18.3xmedian 14.0x 24.1xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.4x 4.1xmedian 1.4x 1.7xmedian 1.1x
PEG now vs peer median -1.25median 0.42 -0.81median 0.42 0.25median 1.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHRLLWPPC
Revenue $12.15B $6.62B $18.44B
Gross profit $1.90B $1.28B $1.77B
Operating income $573.89M $516.80M $925.22M
Net income $342.71M $254.80M $545.82M
Free cash flow $780.87M $403.80M $270.19M
EPS (diluted) $0.62 $1.85 $2.28
Cash & equivalents $839.64M $166.30M $388.84M
Total debt $2.86B $3.93B $2.86B
Shares (diluted) 551.07M 138.10M 238.84M
Enterprise value $8.18B $7.03B $4.26B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHRLLWPPC
P/E 33.7x 29.0x 11.9x
P/FCF 14.8x 18.3x 24.1x
P/Operating cash flow 10.6x 9.0x 5.3x
P/S 0.9x 1.1x 0.4x
P/B 1.5x 4.1x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 4.3x 2.2x
EV/EBITDA 12.5x 12.1x 6.4x
EV/EBIT 23.6x 21.6x 9.7x
EV/Revenue 1.1x 1.7x 0.5x
EV/FCF 17.3x 27.6x 33.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.4x 13.5x 7.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.25 -0.81 0.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHRLLWPPC
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.7% 2.6% 1.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% 4.0% 2.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.2% -7.3% -29.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -2.5% -8.2% 19.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -43.2% -15.2% -46.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -21.1% -21.0% 33.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -54.6% -13.4% -55.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.9% -36.9% 47.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -54.6% -12.3% -56.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -27.0% -35.6% 47.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.3% -7.2% -24.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.3% -3.0% 53.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.4% -17.8% -35.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.5% 205.1% -6.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHRLLWPPC
Gross margin 15.7% 19.4% 9.6%
EBITDA margin 8.9% 13.9% 7.6%
Operating margin 4.7% 7.8% 5.0%
Pretax margin 4.3% 5.1% 4.3%
Net margin 2.8% 3.8% 3.0%
FCF margin 6.4% 6.1% 1.5%
Operating cash flow margin 9.0% 12.5% 6.6%
Return on equity 4.3% 13.2% 14.6%
Return on assets 2.6% 3.3% 5.4%
Return on invested capital 3.5% 6.4% 9.5%
Return on capital employed 5.0% 8.7% 12.6%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.9x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x 3.2x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.8% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHRLLWPPC
Debt / assets 21.5% 53.6% 28.5%
Debt / equity 0.4x 2.2x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 4.1x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 3.7x 9.7x 10.6x
Liabilities / assets 40.9% 75.3% 62.5%
Equity / assets 59.1% 24.7% 37.5%
Interest coverage 7.3x – 5.6x
Current ratio 1.9x 1.5x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.26 2.60 3.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHRLLWPPC
Dividend yield 5.6% 2.8% –
Net buyback yield – 1.5% –
Shareholder yield 5.6% 4.3% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 187.0% 81.6% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 82.1% 51.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.9% 0.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 11.1% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHRLLWPPC
Forward P/E 15.0xFY2026 17.5xFY2026 12.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.40FY2026 $3.07FY2026 $2.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.2%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026 -58.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +13.0% +20.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.68BFY2026 $6.42BFY2026 $17.77BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -3.5%FY2026 -2.9%FY2026 -3.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.2% -1.3% +10.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHRLLWPPC
Held by institutions 43.8% 93.7% 20.6%
Institutions holding 622 557 339
Change in shares held, QoQ -4.0% +1.0% +9.8%
Institutions buying 323 266 201
Institutions selling 230 190 106
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.40 1.90

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HRLLWPPC
HRL 1.00 0.29 0.30
LW 0.29 1.00 0.22
PPC 0.30 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HRL, LW and PPC?

Hormel Foods (HRL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hormel Foods (HRL) $11.51B, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) $7.40B, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) $6.45B.

Which stock is cheaper, HRL, LW and PPC?

Pilgrims Pride (PPC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Hormel Foods (HRL) 33.6x, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 29.0x, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 11.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) is cheapest (Hormel Foods (HRL) 15.0x, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 17.5x, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 12.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Hormel Foods (HRL) +0.7%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) +2.6%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) +1.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) has the highest net margin (Hormel Foods (HRL) 2.8%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 3.8%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 3.0%). On return on invested capital, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) leads (Hormel Foods (HRL) 3.5%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 6.4%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 9.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hormel Foods (HRL) returned the most: Hormel Foods (HRL) -12.1%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -19.2%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) -27.1%. Over five years, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) compounded fastest (Hormel Foods (HRL) -13.1%/yr, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -1.4%/yr, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) -1.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Hormel Foods (HRL) has the highest dividend yield: Hormel Foods (HRL) 0.06%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 0.03%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 0.00%. Pilgrims Pride (PPC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Hormel Foods (HRL) has been the steadiest (Hormel Foods (HRL) 30.0%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 45.6%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 35.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HRL, LW and PPC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.