Lancaster Colony (LANC) Competitors

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) and Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Is LANC or HRL a better dividend stock?

Lancaster Colony pays an annual dividend of $3.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Hormel Foods pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Lancaster Colony pays out 61.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hormel Foods pays out 85.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lancaster Colony has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years and Hormel Foods has raised its dividend for 60 consecutive years.

Does the media refer more to LANC or HRL?

In the previous week, Hormel Foods had 7 more articles in the media than Lancaster Colony. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Hormel Foods and 3 mentions for Lancaster Colony. Lancaster Colony's average media sentiment score of 1.70 beat Hormel Foods' score of 1.38 indicating that Lancaster Colony is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Lancaster Colony	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Hormel Foods	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, LANC or HRL?

Lancaster Colony has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hormel Foods has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of LANC or HRL?

66.4% of Lancaster Colony shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.0% of Hormel Foods shares are held by institutional investors. 29.5% of Lancaster Colony shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Hormel Foods shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate LANC or HRL?

Lancaster Colony presently has a consensus price target of $203.50, indicating a potential upside of 17.79%. Hormel Foods has a consensus price target of $32.86, indicating a potential upside of 7.69%. Given Lancaster Colony's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Lancaster Colony is more favorable than Hormel Foods.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lancaster Colony	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Hormel Foods	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Is LANC or HRL more profitable?

Lancaster Colony has a net margin of 8.99% compared to Hormel Foods' net margin of 6.27%. Lancaster Colony's return on equity of 19.30% beat Hormel Foods' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lancaster Colony	8.99%	19.30%	15.03%
Hormel Foods	6.27%	10.20%	6.11%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, LANC or HRL?

Hormel Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Lancaster Colony. Hormel Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lancaster Colony, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lancaster Colony	$1.87B	2.54	$158.61M	$6.15	28.09
Hormel Foods	$11.92B	1.41	$805.04M	$1.36	22.43

Summary

Lancaster Colony beats Hormel Foods on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.