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Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL)

Consumer Defensive Balanced

Hormel Foods is a long-standing American food company known for household staples like SPAM, Skippy peanut butter, and various deli meats.

$25.01

Is Hormel Foods Corporation a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Hormel Foods is a long-standing American food company known for household staples like SPAM, Skippy peanut butter, and various deli meats.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-23.0%
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range-10% past year
$25.01
Low $19.70High $29.35
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into Hormel Foods Corporation
$770-23%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. 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'.
$13.76B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
5.06M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$25.00 – $25.28
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$19.70 – $29.35
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.
29.8
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
4.7%
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.
0.33
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. 0.33
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?▲ +3% past week · ▼ -10% 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

Successful expansion into international markets.

The bear case

Long-term shift in consumer tastes away from processed foods.

What does Hormel Foods Corporation do?

Hormel makes its money by selling branded food products to supermarkets and restaurants across the globe. While they are a household name, the business has recently faced a dip in sales and profits as shoppers adjust their spending habits. Much rides on whether they can pass higher costs on to customers or freshen up their product range to get growth moving again.

VQGMI
Factor profile

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

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 62Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 37Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 15Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 49Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 52
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Strong portfolio of well-known, trusted food brands
  • History of paying consistent dividends to shareholders
  • Low volatility compared to the broader market
What to watch
  • Growth screens low (15/100)
  • Rising costs for raw ingredients and labour
  • Changing health trends impacting demand for processed goods
  • Difficulty raising prices without losing customers to cheaper alternatives

What do Hormel Foods Corporation's numbers mean?

P/E
29.1
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's current annual profit.
Dividend yield
4.7%
This is the annual cash payout to shareholders as a percentage of the share price, which can be a draw for those looking for steady income.
Beta
0.3
A low number like this suggests the share price tends to be much less jumpy than the wider stock market.
Net margin
3.8%
This reveals that for every pound of sales, the company keeps less than 4 pence as actual profit after all expenses are paid.

How much money does Hormel Foods Corporation make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$796.42M$1.59B$2.39B$3.19BQ2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26
Gross margin
15.8%
Net margin
3.8%
Return on equity
5.8%

Does Hormel Foods Corporation pay a dividend?

Yes - Hormel Foods Corporation currently pays a dividend of about 4.7% 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.

When does Hormel Foods Corporation report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Hormel Foods Corporation is next scheduled to report on about 2026-08-27 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-05-28$0.35$0.40Beat +13%
2026-02-26$0.32$0.34Beat +6%
2025-12-04$0.30$0.32Beat +6%
2025-08-28$0.41$0.35Missed -15%
2025-05-29$0.34$0.35Beat +3%
2025-02-27$0.37$0.35Missed -7%

Across the last 6 quarters here, Hormel Foods Corporation came in ahead of what analysts expected 4 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

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What are the scenarios for Hormel Foods Corporation?

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

$28$25$19today · $25▲ Bull · $27• Base · $25▼ Bear · $23in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%Successful cost-cutting boosts profit margins.
Base
-2% to +2%Sales remain flat as consumer demand stays steady.
Bear
-5% to -10%Rising ingredient costs squeeze profits further.

What are the pros and cons of Hormel Foods Corporation?

3bull points
6bear points

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

The bull case3
  • Strong portfolio of well-known, trusted food brands
  • History of paying consistent dividends to shareholders
  • Low volatility compared to the broader market
The catch3
  • Recent decline in both revenue and earnings
  • Very thin profit margins leave little room for error
  • Struggling to grow sales in a competitive food market
Key risks3
  • Rising costs for raw ingredients and labour
  • Changing health trends impacting demand for processed goods
  • Difficulty raising prices without losing customers to cheaper alternatives
What would flip the thesis

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

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: none · 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.