LW vs UL vs HRL Stock Comparison

Lamb Weston Holdings, Unilever and Hormel Foods Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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LW Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.
$53.52 +24.0% 1M -18.4% 1Y
Market cap
$7.37B
P/E
28.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.62B
Div. yield
2.82%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
4 wins
UL Unilever Plc
$63.94 +2.3% 1M -8.2% 1Y
Market cap
$139.45B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$64.28B
Div. yield
3.36%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
4 wins
HRL Hormel Foods Corp /De/
$20.62 +3.3% 1M -12.8% 1Y
Market cap
$11.35B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.15B
Div. yield
5.64%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionLWULHRLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.37B $139.45B $11.35B UL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 28.9x — 33.1x LW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.4x 18.8x 14.7x HRL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.6% -2.6% +0.7% LW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.8% — 2.8% LW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.4% — 3.5% LW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.1x — 1.8x HRL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.82% 3.36% 5.64% HRL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -18.4% -8.2% -12.8% UL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.1%/yr +1.2%/yr -13.4%/yr UL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 45.5% 24.9% 30.0% UL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 47/100 20/100 50/100 HRL

Percentile Scorecard

LWULHRL

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

AxisLWULHRL
Valuation 55 #21 of 45 2 #44 of 45 68 #15 of 45
Growth 34 #28 of 42 – 27 #31 of 42
Profitability 72 #12 of 40 – 49 #21 of 40
Financial Health 35 #31 of 47 41 #28 of 47 74 #13 of 47
Shareholder Returns 40 #19 of 31 17 #26 of 31 30 #22 of 31
Overall 47 20 50
  • LW ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • UL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • HRL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLWULHRLSPY
1 month +24.0%+2.3%+3.3% +0.9%
3 months -0.8%-3.1%-20.1% +5.9%
6 months +24.4%+12.4%-1.2% +8.5%
Year to date +27.8%-2.2%-13.0% +13.3%
1 year -18.4%-8.2%-12.8% +12.4%
3 years -39.8%+22.9%-34.3% +88.1%
3 years, per year -15.6%+7.1%-13.1% +23.5%
5 years -5.2%+6.1%-51.3% +68.2%
5 years, per year -1.1%+1.2%-13.4% +11.0%
10 years —+36.2%-46.0% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+3.1%-6.0% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureLWULHRLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 45.5%24.9%30.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 54.4%24.2%29.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.220.02-0.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.40-0.33-0.43 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -66.6%-26.2%-65.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.4%-14.3%-22.2% -0.9%
52-week high $65.57$74.59$26.51 $779.14
52-week low $38.48$55.05$19.20 $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.

MultipleLWULHRL
P/E now vs peer median 28.9xmedian 22.2x —median 22.2x 33.1xmedian 22.2x
P/S now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 0.7x 2.2xmedian 0.7x 0.9xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.1xmedian 12.2x —median 12.2x 12.4xmedian 12.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.3xmedian 13.4x —median 13.4x 14.5xmedian 13.4x
P/B now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 1.6x 7.5xmedian 1.6x 1.4xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median -0.81median 0.56 —median 0.56 -1.23median 0.56

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 monthsLWULHRL
Revenue $6.62B $64.28B $12.15B
Gross profit $1.28B – $1.90B
Operating income $516.80M – $573.89M
Net income $254.80M – $342.71M
Free cash flow $403.80M – $780.87M
EPS (diluted) $1.85 – $0.62
Cash & equivalents $166.30M $5.40B $839.64M
Total debt $3.93B $27.38B $2.86B
Shares (diluted) 138.10M 2.20B 551.07M
Enterprise value $7.00B $93.32B $8.03B

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
MetricLWULHRL
P/E 28.9x – 33.1x
P/FCF 18.3x – 14.5x
P/Operating cash flow 8.9x – 10.4x
P/S 1.1x 2.2x 0.9x
P/B 4.1x 7.5x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 4.3x -89.4x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 12.1x – 12.4x
EV/EBIT 21.5x – 23.2x
EV/Revenue 1.7x 2.4x 1.1x
EV/FCF 27.6x – 17.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.5x – 12.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.81 – -1.23

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLWULHRL
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.6% -2.6% 0.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.0% 147.1% -0.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -7.3% – -3.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -8.2% – -2.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -15.2% – -43.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -21.0% – -21.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -13.4% – -54.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -36.9% – -26.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -12.3% – -54.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.6% – -27.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -7.2% – 17.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.0% – -0.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -17.8% – 24.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 205.1% – -2.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLWULHRL
Gross margin 19.4% – 15.7%
EBITDA margin 13.9% – 8.9%
Operating margin 7.8% – 4.7%
Pretax margin 5.1% – 4.3%
Net margin 3.8% – 2.8%
FCF margin 6.1% – 6.4%
Operating cash flow margin 12.5% – 9.0%
Return on equity 13.2% – 4.3%
Return on assets 3.3% – 2.6%
Return on invested capital 6.4% – 3.5%
Return on capital employed 8.7% – 5.0%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.8x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x – 3.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLWULHRL
Debt / assets 53.6% 31.2% 21.5%
Debt / equity 2.2x 1.5x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.1x – 1.8x
Debt / FCF 9.7x – 3.7x
Liabilities / assets 75.3% 79.0% 40.9%
Equity / assets 24.7% 21.0% 59.1%
Interest coverage – – 7.3x
Current ratio 1.5x 0.7x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.7x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 2.60 – 3.24

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLWULHRL
Dividend yield 2.8% 3.4% 5.6%
Net buyback yield 1.5% – –
Shareholder yield 4.3% 3.4% 5.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 81.6% – 187.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 51.5% – 82.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.5% – 1.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 11.1% – 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.

ConsensusLWULHRL
Forward P/E 17.4xFY2026 18.8xFY2026 14.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.07FY2026 $3.40FY2026 $1.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.0%FY2026 -7.1%FY2026 +2.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.0% +7.9% +17.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.42BFY2026 $54.72BFY2026 $11.68BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.9%FY2026 -8.8%FY2026 -3.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -1.3% +7.8% +2.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLWULHRL
Held by institutions 93.7% 11.8% 43.8%
Institutions holding 557 1,190 622
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.0% +7.2% -4.0%
Institutions buying 266 576 323
Institutions selling 190 440 230
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.31 1.40

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.

LWULHRL
LW 1.00 0.24 0.28
UL 0.24 1.00 0.32
HRL 0.28 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LW, UL and HRL?

Unilever (UL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) $7.37B, Unilever (UL) $139.45B, Hormel Foods (HRL) $11.35B.

Which stock is cheaper, LW, UL and HRL?

Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 28.9x, Hormel Foods (HRL) 33.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Hormel Foods (HRL) is cheapest (Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 17.4x, Unilever (UL) 18.8x, Hormel Foods (HRL) 14.7x). 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: Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) +2.6%, Unilever (UL) -2.6%, Hormel Foods (HRL) +0.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Unilever (UL) returned the most: Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -18.4%, Unilever (UL) -8.2%, Hormel Foods (HRL) -12.8%. Over five years, Unilever (UL) compounded fastest (Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) -1.1%/yr, Unilever (UL) +1.2%/yr, Hormel Foods (HRL) -13.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Hormel Foods (HRL) has the highest dividend yield: Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 2.82%, Unilever (UL) 3.36%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 5.64%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Unilever (UL) has been the steadiest (Lamb Weston Holdings (LW) 45.5%, Unilever (UL) 24.9%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 30.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Unilever (UL) leads on 4. 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.