HRL vs LW vs SJM Stock Comparison

Hormel Foods, Lamb Weston Holdings and J M Smucker Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HRL Hormel Foods Corp /De/
$20.89 +5.2% 1M -2.8% 1Y
Market cap
$11.74B
P/E
34.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.15B
Div. yield
0.05%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
3 wins
LW Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.
$53.28 +23.1% 1M -15.7% 1Y
Market cap
$7.46B
P/E
29.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.62B
Div. yield
0.03%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
3 wins
SJM J M SMUCKER Co
$126.26 +4.6% 1M +24.8% 1Y
Market cap
$13.90B
P/E
60.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.16B
Div. yield
0.03%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

J M Smucker leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (J M Smucker 6, Lamb Weston Holdings 3, Hormel Foods 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHRLLWSJMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.74B $7.46B $13.90B SJM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.3x 29.3x 60.6x LW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.9x 17.4x 11.1x SJM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.7% +2.6% +5.1% SJM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.8% 3.8% 2.5% LW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.5% 6.4% 3.6% LW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 4.1x 4.9x HRL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.05% 0.03% 0.03% HRL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.8% -15.7% +24.8% SJM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -13.2%/yr -1.2%/yr +0.5%/yr SJM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.5% 45.3% 28.5% HRL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 48/100 58/100 SJM

Percentile Scorecard

HRLLWSJM

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

AxisHRLLWSJM
Valuation 68 #15 of 45 52 #22 of 45 59 #19 of 45
Growth 27 #31 of 42 34 #28 of 42 95 #3 of 42
Profitability 49 #21 of 40 72 #12 of 40 82 #8 of 40
Financial Health 74 #13 of 47 35 #31 of 47 28 #34 of 47
Shareholder Returns 30 #22 of 31 47 #17 of 31 27 #23 of 31
Overall 50 48 58
  • HRL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • LW ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • SJM ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHRLLWSJMSPY
1 month +5.2%+23.1%+4.6% +0.7%
3 months -17.6%-0.5%+3.3% +3.7%
6 months -2.7%+22.3%+28.8% +7.1%
Year to date -11.9%+27.2%+29.1% +12.8%
1 year -2.8%-15.7%+24.8% +11.9%
3 years -34.8%-40.5%+11.1% +85.2%
3 years, per year -13.3%-15.9%+3.6% +22.8%
5 years -50.6%-5.6%+2.8% +67.6%
5 years, per year -13.2%-1.2%+0.5% +10.9%
10 years -45.3%—-4.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year -5.9%—-0.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureHRLLWSJMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.5%45.3%28.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 26.7%54.1%24.7% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.180.22-0.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.10-0.350.87 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.0%-66.6%-44.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.2%-15.7%-5.4% -1.2%
52-week high $26.51$63.18$133.40 $779.14
52-week low $19.20$38.48$89.53 $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.

MultipleHRLLWSJM
P/E now vs peer median 33.6xmedian 18.4x 28.8xmedian 18.4x 58.8xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 0.7x 1.1xmedian 0.7x 1.5xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.5xmedian 12.0x 12.1xmedian 12.0x 14.7xmedian 12.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.7xmedian 13.6x 18.2xmedian 13.6x 8.5xmedian 13.6x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.6x 4.1xmedian 1.6x 2.3xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median -1.24median 0.55 -0.81median 0.55 0.29median 0.55

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 monthsHRLLWSJM
Revenue $12.15B $6.62B $9.16B
Gross profit $1.90B $1.28B $3.54B
Operating income $573.89M $516.80M $826.20M
Net income $342.71M $254.80M $229.50M
Free cash flow $780.87M $403.80M $1.59B
EPS (diluted) $0.62 $1.85 $2.14
Cash & equivalents $839.64M $166.30M $43.20M
Total debt $2.86B $3.93B $6.74B
Shares (diluted) 551.07M 138.10M 107.10M
Enterprise value $8.41B $7.08B $13.68B

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
MetricHRLLWSJM
P/E 33.6x 28.8x 58.8x
P/FCF 14.7x 18.2x 8.5x
P/Operating cash flow 10.5x 8.9x 7.1x
P/S 0.9x 1.1x 1.5x
P/B 1.5x 4.1x 2.3x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 4.3x 107.2x
EV/EBITDA 12.5x 12.1x 14.7x
EV/EBIT 23.5x 21.5x 24.4x
EV/Revenue 1.1x 1.7x 2.2x
EV/FCF 17.3x 27.5x 12.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.4x 13.4x 10.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.24 -0.81 0.29

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHRLLWSJM
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.7% 2.6% 5.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% 4.0% 2.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.2% -7.3% 15.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -2.5% -8.2% 6.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -43.2% -15.2% 184.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -21.1% -21.0% 43.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -54.6% -13.4% 115.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.9% -36.9% 147.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -54.6% -12.3% 131.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -27.0% -35.6% 200.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.3% -7.2% 86.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.3% -3.0% 9.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.4% -17.8% 136.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.5% 205.1% 20.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHRLLWSJM
Gross margin 15.7% 19.4% 38.7%
EBITDA margin 8.9% 13.9% 15.0%
Operating margin 4.7% 7.8% 9.0%
Pretax margin 4.3% 5.1% 4.6%
Net margin 2.8% 3.8% 2.5%
FCF margin 6.4% 6.1% 17.3%
Operating cash flow margin 9.0% 12.5% 20.9%
Return on equity 4.3% 13.2% 4.1%
Return on assets 2.6% 3.3% 1.4%
Return on invested capital 3.5% 6.4% 3.6%
Return on capital employed 5.0% 8.7% 5.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.9x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x 3.2x 8.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.8% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHRLLWSJM
Debt / assets 21.5% 53.6% 41.6%
Debt / equity 0.4x 2.2x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 4.1x 4.9x
Debt / FCF 3.7x 9.7x 4.2x
Liabilities / assets 40.9% 75.3% 64.5%
Equity / assets 59.1% 24.7% 35.5%
Interest coverage 7.3x – –
Current ratio 1.9x 1.5x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.7x 0.3x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 3.26 2.60 1.49

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHRLLWSJM
Dividend yield 5.6% 2.8% 3.5%
Net buyback yield – 1.5% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 5.6% 4.4% 3.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 187.0% 81.6% 203.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) 82.1% 51.5% 29.4%
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.9% 0.5% 2.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 11.1% 2.8%

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.

ConsensusHRLLWSJM
Forward P/E 14.9xFY2026 17.4xFY2026 11.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.40FY2026 $3.07FY2026 $11.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.2%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026 +23.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +13.0% -8.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.68BFY2026 $6.42BFY2026 $9.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -3.5%FY2026 -2.9%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.2% -1.3% -2.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHRLLWSJM
Held by institutions 43.8% 93.7% 43.8%
Institutions holding 623 558 889
Change in shares held, QoQ -4.0% +1.0% -2.8%
Institutions buying 324 267 495
Institutions selling 230 190 260
Buyers to sellers 1.41 1.41 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.

HRLLWSJM
HRL 1.00 0.28 0.37
LW 0.28 1.00 0.29
SJM 0.37 0.29 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HRL, LW and SJM?

J M Smucker (SJM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hormel Foods (HRL) $11.74B, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) $7.46B, J M Smucker (SJM) $13.90B.

Which stock is cheaper, HRL, LW and SJM?

Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Hormel Foods (HRL) 34.3x, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 29.3x, J M Smucker (SJM) 60.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, J M Smucker (SJM) is cheapest (Hormel Foods (HRL) 14.9x, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 17.4x, J M Smucker (SJM) 11.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

J M Smucker (SJM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Hormel Foods (HRL) +0.7%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) +2.6%, J M Smucker (SJM) +5.1%.

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%, J M Smucker (SJM) 2.5%). On return on invested capital, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) leads (Hormel Foods (HRL) 3.5%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 6.4%, J M Smucker (SJM) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year J M Smucker (SJM) returned the most: Hormel Foods (HRL) -2.8%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -15.7%, J M Smucker (SJM) +24.8%. Over five years, J M Smucker (SJM) compounded fastest (Hormel Foods (HRL) -13.2%/yr, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -1.2%/yr, J M Smucker (SJM) +0.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Hormel Foods (HRL) has the highest dividend yield: Hormel Foods (HRL) 0.05%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 0.03%, J M Smucker (SJM) 0.03%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Hormel Foods (HRL) has been the steadiest (Hormel Foods (HRL) 28.5%, Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 45.3%, J M Smucker (SJM) 28.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, J M Smucker (SJM) 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.