SEB vs HRL vs SFD Stock Comparison

Seaboard, Hormel Foods and Smithfield Foods Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SEB Seaboard Corp /De/
$3,897.82 -1.8% 1M +17.6% 1Y
Market cap
$3.70B
P/E
5.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.27B
Div. yield
0.00%
Meat and Poultry Consumer Staples
4 wins
HRL Hormel Foods Corp /De/
$21.05 +5.7% 1M -11.4% 1Y
Market cap
$11.52B
P/E
33.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.15B
Div. yield
0.06%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
2 wins
SFD Smithfield Foods Inc
$18.64 -1.5% 1M -13.9% 1Y
Market cap
$7.20B
P/E
6.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.47B
Div. yield
–
Meat and Poultry Consumer Staples
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionSEBHRLSFDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.70B $11.52B $7.20B HRL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 5.8x 33.6x 6.8x SEB
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 15.0x 9.0x SFD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.2% +0.7% +4.3% SEB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.2% 2.8% 6.8% SFD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.9% 3.5% 11.7% SFD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.8x 0.4x SFD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.06% 0.00% HRL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +17.6% -11.4% -13.9% SEB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.1%/yr -12.9%/yr — SEB
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 37.0% 30.0% 25.9% SFD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 49/100 90/100 SFD

Percentile Scorecard

SEBHRLSFD

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

AxisSEBHRLSFD
Valuation 91 #4 of 34 66 #16 of 45 100 #1 of 34
Growth 73 #9 of 31 27 #31 of 42 70 #10 of 31
Profitability 64 #11 of 29 49 #21 of 40 96 #2 of 29
Financial Health 81 #8 of 37 74 #13 of 47 89 #5 of 37
Shareholder Returns 29 #18 of 25 30 #22 of 31 96 #2 of 25
Overall 68 49 90
  • SEB ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness
  • HRL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • SFD ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSEBHRLSFDSPY
1 month -1.8%+5.7%-1.5% -1.0%
3 months -17.3%-16.8%-29.0% +2.9%
6 months -33.2%-2.3%-36.5% +6.4%
Year to date -12.3%-11.2%-16.5% +11.4%
1 year +17.6%-11.4%-13.9% +13.1%
3 years +11.6%-32.0%— +79.4%
3 years, per year +3.7%-12.1%— +21.5%
5 years -5.5%-49.9%— +67.7%
5 years, per year -1.1%-12.9%— +10.9%
10 years +10.3%-44.2%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +1.0%-5.7%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureSEBHRLSFDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 37.0%30.0%25.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.6%29.8%27.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.15-0.18-0.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.47-0.38-0.54 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.4%-65.0%-38.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -34.6%-20.6%-37.0% -2.5%
52-week high $5,958.89$26.51$29.59 $779.14
52-week low $3,218.00$19.20$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.

MultipleSEBHRLSFD
P/E now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 14.9x 33.8xmedian 20.7x 6.9xmedian 14.9x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 0.5x 1.0xmedian 0.7x 0.5xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.1xmedian 9.0x 12.6xmedian 12.4x 4.8xmedian 9.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -162.3xmedian 15.2x 14.8xmedian 14.0x 9.1xmedian 15.2x
P/B now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.1x 1.5xmedian 1.5x 1.0xmedian 1.1x
PEG now vs peer median 0.25median 1.28 -1.25median 0.42 —median 1.28

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 monthsSEBHRLSFD
Revenue $10.27B $12.15B $15.47B
Gross profit $827.00M $1.90B $2.07B
Operating income $345.00M $573.89M $1.33B
Net income $639.00M $342.71M $1.07B
Free cash flow -$23.00M $780.87M $807.00M
EPS (diluted) $661.94 $0.62 $2.68
Cash & equivalents $145.00M $839.64M $1.35B
Total debt $6.05B $11.43B $8.02B
Shares (diluted) 957.79K 551.07M 395.77M
Enterprise value -$1.14B $8.18B $2.15B

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
MetricSEBHRLSFD
P/E 5.9x 33.8x 6.9x
P/FCF -162.3x 14.8x 9.1x
P/Operating cash flow 7.8x 10.6x 6.4x
P/S 0.4x 1.0x 0.5x
P/B 0.7x 1.5x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 0.7x 1.8x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 6.1x 12.6x 4.8x
EV/EBIT 11.9x 23.6x 6.0x
EV/Revenue 0.4x 1.1x 0.5x
EV/FCF -179.2x 17.4x 9.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 8.6x 12.4x 6.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.25 -1.25 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSEBHRLSFD
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.2% 0.7% 4.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.6% -0.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 24.5% -3.2% 2.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.8% -2.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 46.2% -43.2% 11.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.0% -21.1% –
Net income growth (1Y) 346.9% -54.6% 15.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 16.3% -26.9% –
EPS growth (1Y) 361.7% -54.6% 16.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 23.8% -27.0% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -14.1% 17.3% 11.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -14.5% -0.3% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -209.5% 24.4% 15.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -27.4% -2.5% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSEBHRLSFD
Gross margin 8.1% 15.7% 13.4%
EBITDA margin 6.5% 8.9% 10.8%
Operating margin 3.4% 4.7% 8.6%
Pretax margin 5.9% 4.3% 8.6%
Net margin 6.2% 2.8% 6.8%
FCF margin -0.2% 6.4% 5.2%
Operating cash flow margin 4.6% 9.0% 7.5%
Return on equity 11.8% 4.3% 15.4%
Return on assets 7.5% 2.6% 8.9%
Return on invested capital 4.9% 3.5% 11.7%
Return on capital employed 5.0% 5.0% 13.3%
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.9x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.7x 3.2x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSEBHRLSFD
Debt / assets 18.4% 21.5% 16.7%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.4x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.8x 0.4x
Debt / FCF -69.3x 3.7x 2.5x
Liabilities / assets 36.5% 40.9% 41.7%
Equity / assets 63.5% 59.1% 58.3%
Interest coverage 4.8x 7.3x 38.1x
Current ratio 2.4x 1.9x 2.6x
Quick ratio 1.2x 0.9x 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.5x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.29 3.27 3.31

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSEBHRLSFD
Dividend yield 0.2% 5.5% 6.3%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.2% 5.5% 6.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 1.4% 187.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) -39.1% 82.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 0.0% 1.9% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -3.5% 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.

ConsensusSEBHRLSFD
Forward P/E – 15.0xFY2026 9.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $1.40FY2026 $2.08FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +2.2%FY2026 -18.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +17.9% +6.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $11.68BFY2026 $14.87BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – -3.5%FY2026 -4.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +2.2% +8.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSEBHRLSFD
Held by institutions 26.1% 43.8% 13.6%
Institutions holding 213 622 281
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.8% -4.0% +14.1%
Institutions buying 92 323 188
Institutions selling 73 230 70
Buyers to sellers 1.26 1.40 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.

SEBHRLSFD
SEB 1.00 0.19 0.23
HRL 0.19 1.00 0.30
SFD 0.23 0.30 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SEB, HRL and SFD?

Hormel Foods (HRL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Seaboard (SEB) $3.70B, Hormel Foods (HRL) $11.52B, Smithfield Foods (SFD) $7.20B.

Which stock is cheaper, SEB, HRL and SFD?

Seaboard (SEB) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Seaboard (SEB) 5.8x, Hormel Foods (HRL) 33.6x, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 6.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Smithfield Foods (SFD) is cheapest (Hormel Foods (HRL) 15.0x, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 9.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Seaboard (SEB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Seaboard (SEB) +8.2%, Hormel Foods (HRL) +0.7%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) +4.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) has the highest net margin (Seaboard (SEB) 6.2%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 2.8%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 6.8%). On return on invested capital, Smithfield Foods (SFD) leads (Seaboard (SEB) 4.9%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 3.5%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 11.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Seaboard (SEB) returned the most: Seaboard (SEB) +17.6%, Hormel Foods (HRL) -11.4%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) -13.9%. Over five years, Seaboard (SEB) compounded fastest (Seaboard (SEB) -1.1%/yr, Hormel Foods (HRL) -12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Hormel Foods (HRL) has the highest dividend yield: Seaboard (SEB) 0.00%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 0.06%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 0.00%. Smithfield Foods (SFD) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smithfield Foods (SFD) has been the steadiest (Seaboard (SEB) 37.0%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 30.0%, Smithfield Foods (SFD) 25.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SEB, HRL 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 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.