Stock

Hormel Foods Corporation

HRL

Packaged Foods · Consumer Defensive

Also trades as: 0J5Z.L GBP 0.21 (+3.58%)

Price

$21.36

+0.92 (+4.50%)

Market Cap

$11.76B

Winston Score

Winston is serious

Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Data as of Oct 23, 2026 · filings through Jul 26, 2026

§How the score breaks down

Quality

Weak

6/30

Growth

Weak

3/20

Cash Flow

Strong

8/10

Stability

Strong

7/10

Valuation

Good

6/10

Ownership

Good

10/15

Dividends

Good

3/5

43 of 100 counted points = Winston Score 43.

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§Winston Score History

The full picture

Hormel Foods makes packaged meat and food products that you can find in almost every grocery store in America. Its most famous brand is SPAM, the canned meat sold in over 40 countries, but it also owns Jennie-O turkey, Skippy peanut butter, and Applegate natural meats. The company sells to grocery retailers, foodservice operators like restaurants and cafeterias, and convenience stores.

Hormel earns money by manufacturing and selling branded food products, which typically carry higher profit margins than generic store brands. It operates mainly in the United States but has a growing international business, particularly in Asia where SPAM is very popular. The company's moat comes from its portfolio of well-known brands and long retail relationships, though its relatively thin margins — around 6% operating margin — leave little room for error if ingredient costs like pork and turkey rise sharply, which remains the key ongoing risk to profitability.

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Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

-2.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue declining

EPS Growth

-66.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (2%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

47.2%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$1.4B cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Revenue declining

Hormel Foods Corporation's revenue is actually shrinking. In a growth stock, that removes the core investment thesis. The low Winston Score here may be warranted — unless there's a turnaround story.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Share count broadly stable

+0.5% over 4y

The share count has stayed roughly flat over this period — little dilution or buyback activity.

Diluted shares outstanding: 547.6M (2021) → 550.5M (2025)

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

15.9%

Thin — 15.9% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

3.7%

Thin — 3.7% operating margin

Return on the money invested

ROCE

5.4%

Weak — 5.4% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+0.7%

Nearly flat sales (+0.7% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

-54.0%

Earnings shrinking (-54.0% YoY)

Earnings per share down more than 10%. Either a bad year, or a real decline.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

3/8 quarters

Earnings rarely grow — volatile business

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

319%

Turns 319% of profit into real cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

6.4%

Modest free cash flow (6.4%)

FCF margin between 0% and 10%. Some cash from sales, but not a lot.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

0.36

Conservative — low debt load (0.36)

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

7.28x

Adequate interest coverage (7.3x)

Interest coverage between 3 and 8. Profits cover interest several times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

33.9x

Pricey — P/E 33.9

P/E above the market average. People are paying up for expected growth.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

+20.7

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (33.9 → 13.2)

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Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

5.91%

Healthy income — 5.91% yield

Generous yield. Worth checking whether the payout is sustainable.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

+0.9%

Dividend flat

Payout Ratio

187%

no trend

Paying out more than the last 12 months of profit. The dividend is being funded from cash or borrowing, not this year’s earnings.

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