Hormel Foods (HRL) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer HRL or HSY?

In the previous week, Hershey had 19 more articles in the media than Hormel Foods. MarketBeat recorded 32 mentions for Hershey and 13 mentions for Hormel Foods. Hormel Foods' average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat Hershey's score of 0.95 indicating that Hormel Foods is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hormel Foods	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hershey	20 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor HRL or HSY?

Hershey received 154 more outperform votes than Hormel Foods when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 57.31% of users gave Hormel Foods an outperform vote while only 50.76% of users gave Hershey an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hormel Foods	Outperform Votes 451 57.31%	Underperform Votes 336 42.69%
Hershey	Outperform Votes 605 50.76%	Underperform Votes 587 49.24%

Which has better valuation and earnings, HRL or HSY?

Hershey has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Hormel Foods	$11.91B	1.42	$805.04M	$1.37	22.41
Hershey	$11.20B	3.01	$2.22B	$10.90	15.30

Do analysts prefer HRL or HSY?

Hormel Foods presently has a consensus target price of $32.33, indicating a potential upside of 5.32%. Hershey has a consensus target price of $163.35, indicating a potential downside of 2.04%. Given Hormel Foods' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Hormel Foods is more favorable than Hershey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hormel Foods	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Hershey	5 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75

Which has more volatility and risk, HRL or HSY?

Hormel Foods has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its stock price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hershey has a beta of 0.28, meaning that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HRL or HSY more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 19.83% compared to Hormel Foods' net margin of 6.75%. Hershey's return on equity of 44.77% beat Hormel Foods' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hormel Foods	6.75%	10.95%	6.39%
Hershey	19.83%	44.77%	15.14%

Is HRL or HSY a better dividend stock?

Hormel Foods pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Hormel Foods pays out 84.7% 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 pays out 50.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hormel Foods has increased its dividend for 60 consecutive years and Hershey has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Hormel Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Hormel Foods beats Hershey on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.