SFD vs HRL vs POST Stock Comparison

Smithfield Foods, Hormel Foods and Post Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SFD Smithfield Foods Inc
$18.31 -3.8% 1M -14.9% 1Y
Market cap
$7.24B
P/E
6.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.47B
Div. yield
–
Meat and Poultry Consumer Staples
7 wins
HRL Hormel Foods Corp /De/
$20.95 +6.3% 1M -12.1% 1Y
Market cap
$11.46B
P/E
33.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.15B
Div. yield
0.06%
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
2 wins
POST Post Holdings, Inc.
$80.48 +10.0% 1M -26.4% 1Y
Market cap
$3.56B
P/E
12.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.41B
Div. yield
–
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Smithfield Foods leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Smithfield Foods 7, Hormel Foods 2, Post Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSFDHRLPOSTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.24B $11.46B $3.56B HRL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 6.8x 33.4x 12.1x SFD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.8x 15.0x 10.9x SFD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.3% +0.7% +6.2% POST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.8% 2.8% 3.5% SFD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.7% 3.5% 5.6% SFD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 1.8x 5.3x SFD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.06% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -14.9% -12.1% -26.4% HRL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -13.1%/yr +3.9%/yr POST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.0% 30.0% 32.1% SFD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 91/100 49/100 71/100 SFD

Percentile Scorecard

SFDHRLPOST

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

AxisSFDHRLPOST
Valuation 100 #1 of 34 66 #16 of 45 80 #10 of 45
Growth 73 #9 of 31 27 #31 of 42 76 #11 of 42
Profitability 96 #2 of 29 49 #21 of 40 69 #13 of 40
Financial Health 89 #5 of 37 74 #13 of 47 33 #32 of 47
Shareholder Returns 96 #2 of 25 30 #22 of 31 100 #1 of 31
Overall 91 49 71
  • SFD ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness
  • HRL ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • POST ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSFDHRLPOSTSPY
1 month -3.8%+6.3%+10.0% -0.8%
3 months -31.1%-19.6%-11.8% +3.5%
6 months -36.3%-2.4%-22.5% +7.0%
Year to date -18.0%-11.6%-18.7% +12.2%
1 year -14.9%-12.1%-26.4% +13.0%
3 years —-33.3%-0.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year —-12.6%-0.1% +23.1%
5 years —-50.4%+20.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year —-13.1%+3.9% +11.0%
10 years —-45.0%+57.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year —-5.8%+4.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSFDHRLPOSTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.0%30.0%32.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.5%29.8%33.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.16-0.18-0.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.57-0.40-0.82 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-65.0%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -38.1%-21.0%-29.8% -1.8%
52-week high $29.59$26.51$114.61 $779.14
52-week low $18.22$19.20$72.50 $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.

MultipleSFDHRLPOST
P/E now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 15.2x 33.7xmedian 20.5x 12.4xmedian 20.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 0.5x 0.9xmedian 0.8x 0.4xmedian 0.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 9.0x 12.5xmedian 12.3x 7.9xmedian 12.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.9xmedian 15.1x 14.8xmedian 14.0x 6.4xmedian 14.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.1x 1.5xmedian 1.4x 1.1xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.27 -1.25median 0.42 1.77median 0.42

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 monthsSFDHRLPOST
Revenue $15.47B $12.15B $8.41B
Gross profit $2.07B $1.90B $2.42B
Operating income $1.33B $573.89M $808.00M
Net income $1.07B $342.71M $293.10M
Free cash flow $807.00M $780.87M $553.10M
EPS (diluted) $2.68 $0.62 $5.71
Cash & equivalents $1.35B $839.64M $265.60M
Total debt $2.00B $2.86B $7.63B
Shares (diluted) 395.77M 551.07M 51.30M
Enterprise value $2.19B $8.13B $2.56B

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
MetricSFDHRLPOST
P/E 6.8x 33.7x 12.4x
P/FCF 8.9x 14.8x 6.4x
P/Operating cash flow 6.2x 10.6x 3.6x
P/S 0.5x 0.9x 0.4x
P/B 1.0x 1.5x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 1.8x 11.8x
EV/EBITDA 4.7x 12.5x 7.9x
EV/EBIT 5.9x 23.6x 13.5x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.1x 1.3x
EV/FCF 9.7x 17.3x 19.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.8x 12.4x 11.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -1.25 1.77

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSFDHRLPOST
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.3% 0.7% 6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -0.1% 8.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.6% -3.2% 4.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -2.5% 12.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.0% -43.2% -1.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -21.1% 11.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 15.8% -54.6% -20.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -26.9% -2.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 16.2% -54.6% -2.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -27.0% 7.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 11.8% 17.3% 6.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -0.3% 15.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 15.5% 24.4% 27.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -2.5% 15.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSFDHRLPOST
Gross margin 13.4% 15.7% 28.8%
EBITDA margin 10.8% 8.9% 16.4%
Operating margin 8.6% 4.7% 9.6%
Pretax margin 8.6% 4.3% 4.7%
Net margin 6.8% 2.8% 3.5%
FCF margin 5.2% 6.4% 6.6%
Operating cash flow margin 7.5% 9.0% 11.8%
Return on equity 15.4% 4.3% 9.3%
Return on assets 8.9% 2.6% 2.3%
Return on invested capital 11.7% 3.5% 5.6%
Return on capital employed 13.3% 5.0% 6.8%
Asset turnover 1.3x 0.9x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 3.2x 3.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.2% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSFDHRLPOST
Debt / assets 16.7% 21.5% 59.4%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.4x 2.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 1.8x 5.3x
Debt / FCF 2.5x 3.7x 13.8x
Liabilities / assets 41.7% 40.9% 76.0%
Equity / assets 58.3% 59.1% 24.0%
Interest coverage 38.1x 7.3x 1.9x
Current ratio 2.6x 1.9x 1.9x
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.9x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.5x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.29 3.26 1.42

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSFDHRLPOST
Dividend yield 6.4% 5.6% –
Net buyback yield – – 33.7%
Shareholder yield 6.4% 5.6% 33.7%
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.

ConsensusSFDHRLPOST
Forward P/E 8.8xFY2026 15.0xFY2026 10.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.08FY2026 $1.40FY2026 $7.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.4%FY2026 +2.2%FY2026 +2.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.3% +17.9% -6.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $14.87BFY2026 $11.68BFY2026 $7.73BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -4.3%FY2026 -3.5%FY2026 -5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.8% +2.2% +8.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSFDHRLPOST
Held by institutions 13.6% 43.8% 100.0%
Institutions holding 281 622 418
Change in shares held, QoQ +14.1% -4.0% -0.3%
Institutions buying 188 323 177
Institutions selling 70 230 178
Buyers to sellers 2.69 1.40 0.99

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.

SFDHRLPOST
SFD 1.00 0.31 0.19
HRL 0.31 1.00 0.23
POST 0.19 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SFD, HRL and POST?

Hormel Foods (HRL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smithfield Foods (SFD) $7.24B, Hormel Foods (HRL) $11.46B, Post Holdings (POST) $3.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, SFD, HRL and POST?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 6.8x, Hormel Foods (HRL) 33.4x, Post Holdings (POST) 12.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Smithfield Foods (SFD) is cheapest (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 8.8x, Hormel Foods (HRL) 15.0x, Post Holdings (POST) 10.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Post Holdings (POST) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smithfield Foods (SFD) +4.3%, Hormel Foods (HRL) +0.7%, Post Holdings (POST) +6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) has the highest net margin (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 6.8%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 2.8%, Post Holdings (POST) 3.5%). On return on invested capital, Smithfield Foods (SFD) leads (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 11.7%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 3.5%, Post Holdings (POST) 5.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hormel Foods (HRL) returned the most: Smithfield Foods (SFD) -14.9%, Hormel Foods (HRL) -12.1%, Post Holdings (POST) -26.4%. Over five years, Post Holdings (POST) compounded fastest (Hormel Foods (HRL) -13.1%/yr, Post Holdings (POST) +3.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smithfield Foods (SFD) has been the steadiest (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 26.0%, Hormel Foods (HRL) 30.0%, Post Holdings (POST) 32.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 7. 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.