Smithfield Foods (SFD) Competitors

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) and Hershey (NYSE:HSY) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Does the media favor SFD or HSY?

In the previous week, Hershey had 45 more articles in the media than Smithfield Foods. MarketBeat recorded 49 mentions for Hershey and 4 mentions for Smithfield Foods. Smithfield Foods' average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat Hershey's score of 0.73 indicating that Smithfield Foods is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Smithfield Foods	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hershey	26 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SFD or HSY?

58.0% of Hershey shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Smithfield Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Hershey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend SFD or HSY?

Smithfield Foods currently has a consensus target price of $27.86, suggesting a potential upside of 13.94%. Hershey has a consensus target price of $158.84, suggesting a potential downside of 8.18%. Given Smithfield Foods' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Smithfield Foods is more favorable than Hershey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smithfield Foods	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Hershey	5 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SFD or HSY?

Hershey has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Smithfield Foods. Smithfield Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hershey, 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
Smithfield Foods	$14.14B	0.68	$892.36M	$2.27	10.77
Hershey	$11.20B	3.13	$2.22B	$8.11	21.33

Is SFD or HSY a better dividend stock?

Smithfield Foods pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Smithfield Foods pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hershey pays out 67.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hershey has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Smithfield Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is SFD or HSY more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 15.32% compared to Smithfield Foods' net margin of 0.00%. Hershey's return on equity of 38.70% beat Smithfield Foods' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smithfield Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hershey	15.32%	38.70%	13.12%

Summary

Hershey beats Smithfield Foods on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.