SFD vs PPC vs POST Stock Comparison

Smithfield Foods, Pilgrims Pride and Post Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SFD Smithfield Foods Inc
$18.33 -3.7% 1M -15.0% 1Y
Market cap
$7.20B
P/E
8.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.16B
Div. yield
–
Meat and Poultry Consumer Staples
6 wins
PPC Pilgrims Pride Corp
$27.09 -2.6% 1M -28.5% 1Y
Market cap
$6.23B
P/E
11.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.44B
Div. yield
–
Meat and Poultry Consumer Staples
2 wins
POST Post Holdings, Inc.
$79.37 +8.5% 1M -26.8% 1Y
Market cap
$3.60B
P/E
12.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.41B
Div. yield
–
Packaged Foods Consumer Staples
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Smithfield Foods leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Smithfield Foods 6, Post Holdings 3, Pilgrims Pride 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSFDPPCPOSTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.20B $6.23B $3.60B SFD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 8.0x 11.4x 12.3x SFD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.8x 12.7x 10.7x SFD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.6% +1.4% +6.2% POST
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 3.0% 3.5% POST
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 9.5% 5.6% PPC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.8x 5.3x PPC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.0% -28.5% -26.8% SFD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -0.8%/yr +3.5%/yr POST
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.0% 35.3% 32.0% SFD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 74/100 70/100 71/100 SFD

Percentile Scorecard

SFDPPCPOST

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

AxisSFDPPCPOST
Valuation 64 #13 of 34 76 #9 of 34 79 #10 of 44
Growth 47 #17 of 31 67 #11 of 31 77 #10 of 40
Profitability 89 #4 of 29 79 #7 of 29 68 #13 of 38
Financial Health – 60 #15 of 36 33 #31 of 46
Shareholder Returns 96 #2 of 25 – 100 #1 of 30
Overall 74 70 71
  • SFD ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness
  • PPC ranked among 38 companies in Agribusiness
  • POST ranked among 47 companies in Branded Foods

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSFDPPCPOSTSPY
1 month -3.7%-2.6%+8.5% -0.2%
3 months -32.4%-9.1%-15.9% +3.9%
6 months -31.8%-17.6%-23.0% +8.2%
Year to date -17.9%-30.5%-19.9% +12.9%
1 year -15.0%-28.5%-26.8% +12.3%
3 years —+10.4%-1.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year —+3.4%-0.5% +23.3%
5 years —-3.9%+18.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year —-0.8%+3.5% +10.9%
10 years —+28.6%+59.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+2.6%+4.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSFDPPCPOSTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.0%35.3%32.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.5%36.0%33.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.16-0.08-0.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.58-0.81-0.84 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-55.2%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -38.1%-38.1%-30.7% -1.2%
52-week high $29.59$43.76$114.61 $779.14
52-week low $18.22$25.20$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.

MultipleSFDPPCPOST
P/E now vs peer median 8.0xmedian 14.8x 11.8xmedian 14.8x 12.2xmedian 22.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 0.5x 0.3xmedian 0.5x 0.4xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.1x 6.3xmedian 9.1x 7.9xmedian 12.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 9.3xmedian 15.0x 23.9xmedian 15.0x 6.3xmedian 13.8x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.1x 1.7xmedian 1.1x 1.1xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.28 0.25median 1.28 1.75median 0.57

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 monthsSFDPPCPOST
Revenue $15.16B $18.44B $8.41B
Gross profit $1.90B $1.77B $2.42B
Operating income $1.15B $925.22M $808.00M
Net income – $545.82M $293.10M
Free cash flow – $270.19M $553.10M
EPS (diluted) $2.27 $2.28 $5.71
Cash & equivalents $1.18B $388.84M $265.60M
Total debt – $2.86B $7.63B
Shares (diluted) 395.77M 238.84M 51.30M
Enterprise value $7.20B $4.05B $2.61B

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
MetricSFDPPCPOST
P/E 8.0x 11.8x 12.2x
P/FCF 9.3x 23.9x 6.3x
P/Operating cash flow – 5.3x 3.5x
P/S 0.5x 0.3x 0.4x
P/B 1.0x 1.7x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 2.2x 11.6x
EV/EBITDA – 6.3x 7.9x
EV/EBIT – 9.6x 13.4x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 0.5x 1.3x
EV/FCF – 33.0x 19.6x
EV/Operating cash flow – 7.3x 10.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.25 1.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSFDPPCPOST
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.6% 1.4% 6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 2.6% 8.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -5.8% -29.3% 4.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 19.3% 12.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -6.2% -46.6% -1.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 33.0% 11.8%
Net income growth (1Y) – -55.9% -20.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 47.4% -2.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 3.9% -56.0% -2.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 47.5% 7.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -24.7% 6.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 53.5% 15.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -35.0% 27.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -6.8% 15.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSFDPPCPOST
Gross margin – 9.6% 28.8%
EBITDA margin – 7.6% 16.4%
Operating margin – 5.0% 9.6%
Pretax margin – 4.3% 4.7%
Net margin – 3.0% 3.5%
FCF margin – 1.5% 6.6%
Operating cash flow margin – 6.6% 11.8%
Return on equity 13.0% 14.6% 9.3%
Return on assets 7.5% 5.4% 2.3%
Return on invested capital – 9.5% 5.6%
Return on capital employed – 12.6% 6.8%
Asset turnover 1.3x 1.8x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.2x 3.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.1% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSFDPPCPOST
Debt / assets – 28.5% 59.4%
Debt / equity – 0.8x 2.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.8x 5.3x
Debt / FCF – 10.6x 13.8x
Liabilities / assets – 62.5% 76.0%
Equity / assets 57.7% 37.5% 24.0%
Interest coverage – 5.6x 1.9x
Current ratio 2.4x 1.4x 1.9x
Quick ratio – 0.5x 0.9x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 3.21 1.42

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSFDPPCPOST
Dividend yield 6.4% – –
Net buyback yield – – 34.1%
Shareholder yield 6.4% 0.0% 34.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusSFDPPCPOST
Forward P/E 8.8xFY2026 12.7xFY2026 10.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.08FY2026 $2.14FY2026 $7.40FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.4%FY2026 -58.6%FY2026 +2.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.3% +20.1% -6.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $14.87BFY2026 $17.77BFY2026 $7.73BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -4.3%FY2026 -3.9%FY2026 -5.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.8% +10.5% +8.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSFDPPCPOST
Held by institutions 13.6% 20.6% 100.0%
Institutions holding 281 339 418
Change in shares held, QoQ +14.1% +9.8% -0.3%
Institutions buying 188 201 177
Institutions selling 70 106 178
Buyers to sellers 2.69 1.90 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.

SFDPPCPOST
SFD 1.00 0.44 0.18
PPC 0.44 1.00 0.17
POST 0.18 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SFD, PPC and POST?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smithfield Foods (SFD) $7.20B, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) $6.23B, Post Holdings (POST) $3.60B.

Which stock is cheaper, SFD, PPC and POST?

Smithfield Foods (SFD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 8.0x, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 11.4x, Post Holdings (POST) 12.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Smithfield Foods (SFD) is cheapest (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 8.8x, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 12.7x, Post Holdings (POST) 10.7x). 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) -0.6%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) +1.4%, Post Holdings (POST) +6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Post Holdings (POST) has the highest net margin (Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 3.0%, Post Holdings (POST) 3.5%). On return on invested capital, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) leads (Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 9.5%, Post Holdings (POST) 5.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Smithfield Foods (SFD) returned the most: Smithfield Foods (SFD) -15.0%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) -28.5%, Post Holdings (POST) -26.8%. Over five years, Post Holdings (POST) compounded fastest (Pilgrims Pride (PPC) -0.8%/yr, Post Holdings (POST) +3.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smithfield Foods (SFD) has been the steadiest (Smithfield Foods (SFD) 26.0%, Pilgrims Pride (PPC) 35.3%, Post Holdings (POST) 32.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SFD, PPC 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 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.