Hormel Foods (HRL) Competitors

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) and Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk and media sentiment.

Which has more risk and volatility, HSY or HRL?

Hershey has a beta of 0.29, suggesting that its share price is 71% 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.

Is HSY or HRL a better dividend stock?

Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Hormel Foods pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Hershey pays out 67.6% 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. Hershey has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Hormel Foods has increased its dividend for 60 consecutive years. Hormel Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is HSY or HRL more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 15.32% compared to Hormel Foods' net margin of 6.27%. Hershey's return on equity of 38.70% beat Hormel Foods' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hershey	15.32%	38.70%	13.12%
Hormel Foods	6.27%	10.20%	6.11%

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

58.0% of Hershey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.0% of Hormel Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Hershey shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Hormel Foods shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to HSY or HRL?

In the previous week, Hershey had 18 more articles in the media than Hormel Foods. MarketBeat recorded 33 mentions for Hershey and 15 mentions for Hormel Foods. Hershey's average media sentiment score of 1.12 beat Hormel Foods' score of 0.45 indicating that Hershey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hershey	17 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hormel Foods	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has better valuation and earnings, HSY or HRL?

Hershey has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Hormel Foods. Hershey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hormel Foods, 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
Hershey	$11.20B	3.00	$2.22B	$8.11	20.47
Hormel Foods	$11.92B	1.40	$805.04M	$1.36	22.25

Do analysts rate HSY or HRL?

Hershey presently has a consensus price target of $158.84, suggesting a potential downside of 4.34%. Hormel Foods has a consensus price target of $32.86, suggesting a potential upside of 8.58%. Given Hormel Foods' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Hormel Foods is more favorable than Hershey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hershey	5 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75
Hormel Foods	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Summary

Hershey and Hormel Foods tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.