Bridgford Foods (NASDAQ:BRID) vs. Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Critical Analysis

Bridgford Foods (NASDAQ:BRID) and Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Bridgford Foods has a beta of -0.17, meaning that its stock price is 117% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hormel Foods has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bridgford Foods and Hormel Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridgford Foods	-6.36%	-12.97%	-10.05%
Hormel Foods	2.82%	9.91%	5.89%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

4.7% of Bridgford Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.0% of Hormel Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 80.7% of Bridgford Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Hormel Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Bridgford Foods and Hormel Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridgford Foods	1	0	0	0	1.00
Hormel Foods	1	6	2	0	2.11

Hormel Foods has a consensus price target of $25.43, indicating a potential upside of 21.59%. Given Hormel Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hormel Foods is more favorable than Bridgford Foods.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bridgford Foods and Hormel Foods”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bridgford Foods	$230.99 million	0.21	-$13.36 million	($1.59)	-3.36
Hormel Foods	$12.11 billion	0.95	$478.20 million	$0.63	33.20

Hormel Foods has higher revenue and earnings than Bridgford Foods. Bridgford Foods is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hormel Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Hormel Foods beats Bridgford Foods on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bridgford Foods

Bridgford Foods Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes frozen and snack food products in the United States. It operates in two segments, Frozen Food Products and Snack Food Products. The company offers biscuits, bread dough items, roll dough items, and dry sausage and beef jerky products, as well as ready to eat sandwiches and non-refrigerated snack food products. It provides frozen food products to food service and retail customers through wholesalers, cooperatives, and distributors; and snack food items to supermarkets, mass merchandise, and convenience retail stores through customer-owned distribution centers, as well as a direct store delivery network. The company was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Bridgford Foods Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Bridgford Industries Incorporated.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Foodservice, and International segments. The company provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others. It sells its products under the HORMEL, ALWAYS TENDER, APPLEGATE, AUSTIN BLUES, BACON 1, BLACK LABEL, BREAD READY, BURKE, CAFÉ H, CERATTI, CHI-CHI'S, COLUMBUS, COMPLEATS, CORN NUTS, CURE 81, DAN'S PRIZE, DI LUSSO, DINTY MOORE, DON MIGUEL, DOÑA MARIA, EMBASA, FAST N EASY, FIRE BRAISED, FONTANINI, HAPPY LITTLE PLANTS, HERDEZ, HORMEL GATHERINGS, HORMEL SQUARE TABLE, HORMEL VITAL CUISINE, HOUSE OF TSANG, JENNIE-O, JUSTIN'S, LA VICTORIA, LAYOUT, LLOYD'S, MARY KITCHEN, MR. PEANUT, NATURAL CHOICE, NUT-RITION, OLD SMOKEHOUSE, OVEN READY, PILLOW PACK, PLANTERS, ROSA GRANDE, SADLER'S SMOKEHOUSE, SKIPPY, SPAM, SPECIAL RECIPE, THICK & EASY, VALLEY FRESH, AND WHOLLY brands through sales personnel, independent brokers, and distributors. The company was formerly known as Geo. A. Hormel & Company and changed its name to Hormel Foods Corporation in January 1995. Hormel Foods Corporation was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Austin, Minnesota.