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Hilton Food Group plc (HFG.L)

Consumer Defensive Balanced

Behind the scenes, Hilton Food Group packs and supplies millions of cuts of meat, seafood and ready meals for major supermarkets across Britain and beyond.

£5.99
≈ 599p · London-listed shares are usually quoted in pence (GBX) elsewhere; the Almanac shows pounds (£1 = 100p).

Is Hilton Food Group plc a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Behind the scenes, Hilton Food Group packs and supplies millions of cuts of meat, seafood and ready meals for major supermarkets across Britain and beyond.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-35.9%
52-week range-36% past year
£5.99
Low £4.48High £8.61
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into Hilton Food Group plc
£641-36%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
£538.83M
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
203.58K
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
£5.67 – £6.04
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
£4.48 – £8.61
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
11.7
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
6.2%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.73
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.73
Calm
Wild
Steadier than most

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▲ +0% past week · ▼ -36% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Long-term shift towards outsourced supermarket supply cements their dominance.

The bear case

Persistent high inflation erodes profitability permanently.

What does Hilton Food Group plc do?

Whenever you pop into your local supermarket to grab a steak or a pack of sausages, there is a strong chance this company prepared, packaged and delivered it behind the scenes. Doing the heavy lifting of food processing and supply chain management for massive retail brands, on razor-thin margins, is where the money is. The key thing to keep an eye on is how well they handle rising grocery costs and whether supermarkets keep outsourcing their kitchen prep to them.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on value and income, and weakest on quality.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 72Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 28Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). —Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 57Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 64
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Value screens high (72/100)
  • Deeply embedded relationships with major supermarket brands
  • Provides essential everyday food items regardless of economic cycles
  • Offers a higher-than-average dividend payout for income-focused portfolios
What to watch
  • Quality screens low (28/100)
  • Vulnerability to sudden spikes in meat and food ingredient costs
  • Pressure from supermarkets demanding lower prices from suppliers
  • Potential supply chain disruptions affecting perishable goods

What do Hilton Food Group plc's numbers mean?

P/E
11.7
This shows you are paying around £11.70 for every pound of annual profit the business currently makes.
Gross margin
10.4%
For every pound of food sold, about ten pence is left over after paying the direct costs of making the product.
Dividend yield
6.2%
This tells you the cash payout sent back to shareholders relative to the share price, which looks relatively high compared to the wider market.
Beta
0.7
This suggests the share price tends to jump around less wildly than the stock market as a whole.

Does Hilton Food Group plc pay a dividend?

Yes - Hilton Food Group plc currently pays a dividend of about 6.2% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

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Appears in
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What are the scenarios for Hilton Food Group plc?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£7£6£4today · £6▲ Bull · £7• Base · £6▼ Bear · £5in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+10% to +20%Supermarket partners report stronger seasonal demand and lower input costs.
Base
-5% to +5%Steady day-to-day operations with normal grocery shopping volumes.
Bear
-15% to -25%Supply chain pressures squeeze already tight margins further.

What are the pros and cons of Hilton Food Group plc?

4bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case4
  • Deeply embedded relationships with major supermarket brands
  • Provides essential everyday food items regardless of economic cycles
  • Offers a higher-than-average dividend payout for income-focused portfolios
  • Lower share price volatility than the broader market average
The catch3
  • Operating on very thin profit margins leaves little room for error
  • Recent 12-month share price decline reflects investor caution
  • Heavy reliance on a handful of massive supermarket clients
Key risks3
  • Vulnerability to sudden spikes in meat and food ingredient costs
  • Pressure from supermarkets demanding lower prices from suppliers
  • Potential supply chain disruptions affecting perishable goods
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: GBP · flags: revenue_growth, earnings_growth · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.