Head to Head Contrast: Bridgford Foods (NASDAQ:BRID) and Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

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

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hormel Foods	$12.11 billion	0.93	$478.20 million	$0.63	32.55
Bridgford Foods	$230.99 million	0.22	-$13.36 million	($1.59)	-3.45

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.

Profitability

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

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

Risk and Volatility

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Hormel Foods and Bridgford Foods, as provided by MarketBeat.

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

Hormel Foods presently has a consensus target price of $25.43, suggesting a potential upside of 24.02%. Given Hormel Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Hormel Foods is more favorable than Bridgford Foods.

Summary

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

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.

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.