Smithfield Foods (SFD) Competitors

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

Is SFD or HSY more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 13.54% compared to Smithfield Foods' net margin of 0.00%. Hershey's return on equity of 37.36% beat Smithfield Foods' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smithfield Foods	N/A	N/A	N/A
Hershey	13.54%	37.36%	12.73%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, 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	$14.84B	0.64	$892.37M	$2.27	10.68
Hershey	$11.20B	3.35	$2.22B	$7.53	24.60

Do analysts rate SFD or HSY?

Smithfield Foods currently has a consensus target price of $28.44, suggesting a potential upside of 17.27%. Hershey has a consensus target price of $170.83, suggesting a potential downside of 7.77%. Given Smithfield Foods' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly 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)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.10
Hershey	4 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.78

Does the media prefer SFD or HSY?

In the previous week, Hershey had 12 more articles in the media than Smithfield Foods. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Hershey and 12 mentions for Smithfield Foods. Hershey's average media sentiment score of 1.65 beat Smithfield Foods' score of 0.99 indicating that Hershey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Smithfield Foods	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hershey	22 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

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 3.0%. Smithfield Foods pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hershey pays out 72.8% 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 increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Smithfield Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in SFD or HSY?

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

Summary

Hershey beats Smithfield Foods on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.