HRL vs PPC vs SFD Stock Comparison

Hormel Foods, Pilgrims Pride and Smithfield Foods Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HRL Hormel Foods Corp /De/
$20.95 +6.3% 1M -12.1% 1Y
Market cap
$11.47B
P/E
33.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.15B
Div. yield
0.06%
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
1 win
SFD Smithfield Foods Inc
$18.31 -3.8% 1M -14.9% 1Y
Market cap
$7.26B
P/E
6.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.47B
Div. yield
–
Meat and Poultry Consumer Staples
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Smithfield Foods leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Smithfield Foods 8, Hormel Foods 2, Pilgrims Pride 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHRLPPCSFDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.47B $6.45B $7.26B HRL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.5x 11.8x 6.9x SFD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.0x 12.8x 8.8x SFD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.7% +1.4% +4.3% SFD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.8% 3.0% 6.8% SFD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.5% 9.5% 11.7% SFD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.8x 0.4x SFD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.06% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.1% -27.1% -14.9% HRL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -13.1%/yr -1.1%/yr — PPC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.0% 35.4% 26.0% SFD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 67/100 91/100 SFD

Percentile Scorecard

HRLPPCSFD

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

AxisHRLPPCSFD
Valuation 66 #16 of 45 73 #10 of 34 100 #1 of 34
Growth 27 #31 of 42 63 #12 of 31 73 #9 of 31
Profitability 49 #21 of 40 79 #7 of 29 96 #2 of 29
Financial Health 74 #13 of 47 53 #18 of 37 89 #5 of 37
Shareholder Returns 30 #22 of 31 – 96 #2 of 25
Overall 49 67 91
  • HRL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • PPC ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness
  • SFD ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHRLPPCSFDSPY
1 month +6.3%-1.8%-3.8% -0.8%
3 months -19.6%-6.4%-31.1% +3.5%
6 months -2.4%-17.5%-36.3% +7.0%
Year to date -11.6%-29.9%-18.0% +12.2%
1 year -12.1%-27.1%-14.9% +13.0%
3 years -33.3%+11.4%— +86.3%
3 years, per year -12.6%+3.7%— +23.1%
5 years -50.4%-5.2%— +68.6%
5 years, per year -13.1%-1.1%— +11.0%
10 years -45.0%+32.2%— +258.0%
10 years, per year -5.8%+2.8%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureHRLPPCSFDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.0%35.4%26.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.8%36.1%27.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.18-0.08-0.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.40-0.77-0.57 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.0%-55.2%-38.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.0%-37.5%-38.1% -1.8%
52-week high $26.51$43.76$29.59 $779.14
52-week low $19.20$25.20$18.22 $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.

MultipleHRLPPCSFD
P/E now vs peer median 33.7xmedian 20.5x 11.9xmedian 15.2x 6.8xmedian 15.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 0.8x 0.4xmedian 0.5x 0.5xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.5xmedian 12.3x 6.4xmedian 9.0x 4.7xmedian 9.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 14.0x 24.1xmedian 15.1x 8.9xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.4x 1.7xmedian 1.1x 1.0xmedian 1.1x
PEG now vs peer median -1.25median 0.42 0.25median 1.27 —median 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 monthsHRLPPCSFD
Revenue $12.15B $18.44B $15.47B
Gross profit $1.90B $1.77B $2.07B
Operating income $573.89M $925.22M $1.33B
Net income $342.71M $545.82M $1.07B
Free cash flow $780.87M $270.19M $807.00M
EPS (diluted) $0.62 $2.28 $2.68
Cash & equivalents $839.64M $388.84M $1.35B
Total debt $2.86B $2.86B $2.00B
Shares (diluted) 551.07M 238.84M 395.77M
Enterprise value $8.13B $4.26B $2.21B

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
MetricHRLPPCSFD
P/E 33.7x 11.9x 6.8x
P/FCF 14.8x 24.1x 8.9x
P/Operating cash flow 10.6x 5.3x 6.2x
P/S 0.9x 0.4x 0.5x
P/B 1.5x 1.7x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 2.2x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 12.5x 6.4x 4.7x
EV/EBIT 23.6x 9.7x 5.9x
EV/Revenue 1.1x 0.5x 0.5x
EV/FCF 17.3x 33.2x 9.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.4x 7.4x 6.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.25 0.25 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHRLPPCSFD
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.7% 1.4% 4.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% 2.6% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.2% -29.3% 2.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -2.5% 19.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -43.2% -46.6% 11.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -21.1% 33.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) -54.6% -55.9% 15.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.9% 47.4% –
EPS growth (1Y) -54.6% -56.0% 16.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -27.0% 47.5% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.3% -24.7% 11.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.3% 53.5% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.4% -35.0% 15.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.5% -6.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHRLPPCSFD
Gross margin 15.7% 9.6% 13.4%
EBITDA margin 8.9% 7.6% 10.8%
Operating margin 4.7% 5.0% 8.6%
Pretax margin 4.3% 4.3% 8.6%
Net margin 2.8% 3.0% 6.8%
FCF margin 6.4% 1.5% 5.2%
Operating cash flow margin 9.0% 6.6% 7.5%
Return on equity 4.3% 14.6% 15.4%
Return on assets 2.6% 5.4% 8.9%
Return on invested capital 3.5% 9.5% 11.7%
Return on capital employed 5.0% 12.6% 13.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.8x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x 2.2x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHRLPPCSFD
Debt / assets 21.5% 28.5% 16.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.8x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.8x 0.4x
Debt / FCF 3.7x 10.6x 2.5x
Liabilities / assets 40.9% 62.5% 41.7%
Equity / assets 59.1% 37.5% 58.3%
Interest coverage 7.3x 5.6x 38.1x
Current ratio 1.9x 1.4x 2.6x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.5x 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.1x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.26 3.21 3.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHRLPPCSFD
Dividend yield 5.6% – 6.4%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 5.6% 0.0% 6.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 187.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 82.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.9% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.1% – –

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.

ConsensusHRLPPCSFD
Forward P/E 15.0xFY2026 12.8xFY2026 8.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.40FY2026 $2.14FY2026 $2.08FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.2%FY2026 -58.6%FY2026 -18.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +20.1% +6.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.68BFY2026 $17.77BFY2026 $14.87BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -3.5%FY2026 -3.9%FY2026 -4.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.2% +10.5% +8.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHRLPPCSFD
Held by institutions 43.8% 20.6% 13.6%
Institutions holding 622 339 281
Change in shares held, QoQ -4.0% +9.8% +14.1%
Institutions buying 323 201 188
Institutions selling 230 106 70
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.90 2.69

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.

HRLPPCSFD
HRL 1.00 0.30 0.31
PPC 0.30 1.00 0.43
SFD 0.31 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HRL, PPC and SFD?

Hormel Foods (HRL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hormel Foods (HRL) $11.47B, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) $6.45B, Smithfield Foods (SFD) $7.26B.

Which stock is cheaper, HRL, PPC and SFD?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Hormel Foods (HRL) 33.5x, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 11.8x, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 6.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Smithfield Foods (SFD) is cheapest (Hormel Foods (HRL) 15.0x, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 12.8x, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 8.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Hormel Foods (HRL) +0.7%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) +1.4%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) +4.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) has the highest net margin (Hormel Foods (HRL) 2.8%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 3.0%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 6.8%). On return on invested capital, Smithfield Foods (SFD) leads (Hormel Foods (HRL) 3.5%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 9.5%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 11.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hormel Foods (HRL) returned the most: Hormel Foods (HRL) -12.1%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) -27.1%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) -14.9%. Over five years, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) compounded fastest (Hormel Foods (HRL) -13.1%/yr, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) -1.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Hormel Foods (HRL) 0.06%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 0.00%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 0.00%. Pilgrims Pride (PPC) and Smithfield Foods (SFD) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smithfield Foods (SFD) has been the steadiest (Hormel Foods (HRL) 30.0%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 35.4%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 26.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Smithfield Foods (SFD) leads on 8. 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.