Hormel Foods Corp vs Kroger Co — how do they compare? Hormel Foods Corp trades at $25.08 (market cap $13.91B), while Kroger Co trades at $57.78 (market cap $35.75B). The key difference: Kroger Co is far larger — about 2.6× Hormel Foods Corp's market cap, and Hormel Foods Corp pays the higher dividend (4.63%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| HRL | KR | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $13.91B | $35.75B |
Sector | Consumer Staples | Consumer Staples |
52-Week High | $29.52 | $75.60 |
52-Week Low | $19.74 | $55.53 |
Enterprise Value | $15.91B | $55.85B |
Dividend Yield | 4.63% | 2.47% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Hormel Foods (HRL) trades at $25.31, down 0.33% on the day, with a bullish technical outlook and consistent earnings beats. The stock shows a P/E of 29.87 and net income margin of 3.82%, supported by a recent dividend of $0.29. Revenue for 2025 was $12.11B, though net income declined to $478.20M. Analysts maintain a mixed consensus with a $26.33 price target, while the company focuses on portfolio streamlining, such as the sale of its Ceratti business in Brazil (PRNewsWire, 2026-06-29).
HRL offers a stable dividend yield and is near multi-year lows, presenting a value opportunity amid sector weakness. Risks include margin pressure from input costs and competitive threats in the consumer staples space. Institutional sentiment is cautious with 57% hold ratings, but technical indicators suggest potential upside if earnings momentum continues.
Kroger (KR) trades at $58.39, down 0.73% on the day, with a bearish technical signal and mixed earnings history. The company maintains stable revenue near $147 billion (2025) and recently announced a $1.65 billion acquisition of Giant Eagle (Reuters, July 1, 2026). Cash flow from operations remains strong at $5.79 billion, though net income margin is thin at 0.71%.
Outlook: KR offers value with low P/S (0.25) and dividend yield, but faces margin pressure and integration risks from acquisitions. Analyst consensus is bullish with a $68.63 price target, though technical weakness and competitive threats warrant caution for near-term volatility.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Hormel Foods is a protein-focused branded food company. Its brands include its namesake Hormel, Spam, Jennie-O, Dinty Moore, Applegate, Wholly Guacamole, and Skippy. The vast majority of the company's revenue is U.S.-based: 64% U.S. retail, 28% U.S. food service, and 8% international. By product type, in fiscal 2021, 23% of revenue was shelf-stable foods, 18% was poultry (branded and commodity), 55% was other perishable food, and 3% was other, primarily nutritional products. The company holds the number-one market position in shelf-stable meat, shelf-stable ready meals, pepperoni, natural/organic deli meat, and guacamole and the number-two position in turkey, bacon, chilled ready meals, and peanut butter.
Read more on HRL →Kroger is the leading American grocer, with 2,726 supermarkets operating under several banners throughout the country as of the end of fiscal 2021. Around 83% of stores have pharmacies, while nearly 60% also sell fuel. The company also operates roughly 120 fine jewelry stores. Kroger features a leading private-label offering and manufactures around 30% of its own-brand units (and more than 40% of its grocery own-label assortment) itself, in 33 food production plants nationwide. Kroger is a top-two grocer in most of its major markets (as of early 2021, according to company data). Virtually all of Kroger's sales come from the United States.
Read more on KR →