Stocks · Consumer Defensive · Packaged Foods
Hormel Foods Corporation HRL
$20.25 +1.45% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $11.14B
Next earnings report: Dec 3, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $0.63, down 54.0% year over year.
- The shares trade at 32.1× trailing earnings, higher than 95% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Defensive sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth19Very weak
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 33%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 20%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 37%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 28%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 24%
Quality39Weak
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 26%
- Gross marginBottom 16%
- Operating marginBottom 43%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 10%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 45%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 44%
- Interest coverTop 46%
Value34Weak
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 44%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 41%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 38%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 44%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 2%
Momentum40Weak
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 41%
- 6-month returnBottom 47%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 44%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 43%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 22%
Revisions34Weak
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 45%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 27%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 10%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 46%
Stability70Positive
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 29%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 48%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 10%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 44%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 2.5% | 0.7% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -37.5% | -54.0% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 16.3% | 15.7% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 8.4% | 4.7% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 5.2% | 6.4% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 0.7% | 2.5% | ↓ | Bottom 33% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -54.0% | -37.5% | ↓ | Bottom 20% |
| Gross margin | 15.7% | 16.3% | ↓ | Bottom 16% |
| Operating margin | 4.7% | 8.4% | ↓ | Bottom 43% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | 6.3% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 6.4% | 5.2% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 3.2% | — | Bottom 26% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | -1.0% | — | Bottom 28% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 3.00×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -5.6%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.2%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -10.7 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.31×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 7.3×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 5.75%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.02%
- Shareholder yield
- 5.77%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +0.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +0.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jul 26, 2026 (filed Aug 27, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 4
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 5 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +7.4%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -1.1%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $24.67
- Target vs current price
- +21.8%
- Analysts with a rating
- 30
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 20%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2026 | +4.5% | -10.2% | -7.0% | -16.3% | — |
| May 28, 2026 | +12.9% | +12.5% | +10.4% | +24.1% | +13.9% |
| Feb 26, 2026 | +6.3% | -1.9% | -3.4% | -8.9% | -16.7% |
| Dec 4, 2025 | +6.1% | +3.8% | +2.0% | +0.5% | +5.7% |
| Aug 28, 2025 | -12.8% | -13.1% | -13.0% | -15.9% | -23.1% |
| May 29, 2025 | +2.4% | +1.1% | +2.2% | +0.7% | -2.6% |
| Feb 27, 2025 | -7.0% | -1.2% | +0.1% | +3.0% | +2.5% |
| Dec 4, 2024 | -2.3% | +0.5% | +5.4% | -0.9% | -9.2% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2026 | $0.37 | $0.35 | +4.5% | $2.96B |
| May 28, 2026 | $0.40 | $0.35 | +12.9% | $2.97B |
| Feb 26, 2026 | $0.34 | $0.32 | +6.3% | $3.03B |
| Dec 4, 2025 | $0.32 | $0.30 | +6.1% | $3.19B |
| Aug 28, 2025 | $0.35 | $0.40 | -12.8% | $3.03B |
| May 29, 2025 | $0.35 | $0.34 | +2.4% | $2.90B |
| Feb 27, 2025 | $0.35 | $0.38 | -7.0% | $2.99B |
| Dec 4, 2024 | $0.42 | $0.43 | -2.3% | $3.14B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 32.1× | 24.2× | 95th | Bottom 44% |
| P/E (forward) | 13.6× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.1× | — | — | Bottom 38% |
| EV / Sales | 1.08× | — | — | Top 44% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 7.01% | — | — | Top 41% |
| Earnings yield | 3.11% | — | — | Bottom 44% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 18.4× – 33.8× since Jul 25, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- -18.3%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -54.0%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +83.5%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -7.6%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -1.2%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -10.7%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -12.6%
- RSI (14)
- 36.1
- Relative volume
- 1.39×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 28.8%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 79th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.06
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.03
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -23.6%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -48.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21, 2022 | Sep 25, 2026 | -64.0% | 1111 days | Not yet recovered |
| Nov 16, 2020 | Sep 23, 2021 | -22.6% | 214 days | 135 days (Apr 6, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $11.14B
- P/E (TTM)
- 32.1
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $0.63
- Revenue (TTM)
- $12.15B
- Dividend yield
- 7.21%
- 52-week range
- $19.42 – $26.60
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $11.39B | $12.46B | $12.11B | $11.92B | $12.11B |
| Gross profit | $1.93B | $2.16B | $2.00B | $2.02B | $1.89B |
| Operating income | $1.12B | $1.31B | $1.07B | $1.07B | $718.6M |
| Net income | $908.8M | $1000.0M | $793.6M | $805.0M | $478.2M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.66 | $1.82 | $1.45 | $1.47 | $0.87 |
| Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.14B | $2.99B | $2.90B | $3.03B | $3.19B | $3.03B | $2.97B | $2.96B |
| Net income | $220.2M | $170.6M | $180.0M | $183.7M | -$56.1M | $181.7M | $157.5M | $59.6M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.40 | $0.31 | $0.33 | $0.33 | -$0.10 | $0.33 | $0.29 | $0.11 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $1.00B | $1.13B | $1.05B | $1.27B | $845.3M |
| Capital expenditure | -$230.2M | -$277.7M | -$270.2M | -$256.4M | -$310.9M |
| Free cash flow | $771.7M | $857.3M | $777.6M | $1.01B | $534.3M |
| Dividends paid | -$523.1M | -$557.8M | -$592.9M | -$615.0M | -$633.2M |
| Net share buybacks | $26.0M | $79.8M | -$285,000 | $40.7M | $22.1M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $868.4M
- Total assets
- $13.29B
- Total liabilities
- $5.43B
- Total debt
- $2.86B
- Net debt
- $2.02B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $7.84B
As of Jul 26, 2026 (filed Aug 27, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 13, 2026 | $0.29 | Nov 16, 2026 |
| Jul 13, 2026 | $0.29 | Aug 17, 2026 |
| Apr 13, 2026 | $0.29 | May 15, 2026 |
| Jan 12, 2026 | $0.29 | Feb 17, 2026 |
| Oct 14, 2025 | $0.29 | Nov 17, 2025 |
| Jul 14, 2025 | $0.29 | Aug 15, 2025 |
| Apr 14, 2025 | $0.29 | May 15, 2025 |
| Jan 13, 2025 | $0.29 | Feb 18, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 20,839,477
- Days to cover
- 4.69
- Change vs previous report
- +0.4%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Feb 10, 2016
- 2-for-1
- Feb 15, 2011
- 2-for-1
- Feb 16, 2000
- 2-for-1
- Feb 21, 1990
- 2-for-1
- Jun 2, 1987
- 2-for-1