Sifting through countless of stocks in the Food Products industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in General Mills, Inc. or Hormel Foods Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation

General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; North America Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. The company also manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food; and operates ice cream parlors. It markets its products under the Annies, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, Dunkaroos, Edgard & Cooper, Fiber One, By The Foot, Gushers, Roll-Ups, Gardettos, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Häagen-Dazs, Kitano, Kix, Lärabar, Latina, Lucky Charms, As Well As Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Nudges, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Progresso, Tastefuls, Tiki Pets, Total, Totinos, Trix, True Chews, True Solutions, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, and Yoki brands. In addition, the company sells its products to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to foodservice, convenience store, 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, including resh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, bacon, sausages, hams, guacamole, and other items that require refrigeration; and shelf-stable products, such as canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, and other items that do not require refrigeration. 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, HERDEZ, HORMEL GATHERINGS, 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, SQUARE TABLE, SPECIAL RECIPE, 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.

Latest Food Products and General Mills, Inc., Hormel Foods Corporation Stock News

As of March 3, 2026, General Mills, Inc. had a $23.8 billion market capitalization, compared to the Food Products median of $2.4 million. General Mills, Inc.’s stock is down 6.5% in 2026, down 2.4% in the previous five trading days and down 26.53% in the past year.

Currently, General Mills, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 9.6. General Mills, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $18.8 billion with a 13.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -7.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.505 per share for the current fiscal year. General Mills, Inc. currently has a 5.5% dividend yield.

As of March 3, 2026, Hormel Foods Corporation had a $13.5 billion market cap, putting it in the 81st percentile of all stocks. Hormel Foods Corporation’s stock is up 2.6% in 2026, down 3.9% in the previous five trading days and down 14.08% in the past year.

Currently, Hormel Foods Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 27.7. Hormel Foods Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $12.1 billion with a 4.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 1.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.476 per share for the current fiscal year. Hormel Foods Corporation currently has a 4.8% dividend yield.

How We Compare General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
General Mills, Inc.	GIS	C
Hormel Foods Corporation	HRL	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

General Mills, Inc. has a Growth Score of 58, which is Average. Hormel Foods Corporation has a Growth Score of 58, which is Average.

The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither General Mills, Inc. or Hormel Foods Corporation has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if General Mills, Inc. or Hormel Foods Corporation is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.

General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
General Mills, Inc.	GIS	F
Hormel Foods Corporation	HRL	D

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

General Mills, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 20, which is Very Weak. Hormel Foods Corporation has a Momentum Score of 33, which is Weak.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither General Mills, Inc. or Hormel Foods Corporation has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if General Mills, Inc. or Hormel Foods Corporation is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
General Mills, Inc.	GIS	C
Hormel Foods Corporation	HRL	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

General Mills, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 45, which is Neutral. Hormel Foods Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 77, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Hormel Foods Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Hormel Foods Corporation has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than General Mills, Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Hormel Foods Corporation could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation Grades

In addition to Momentum, Estimate Revisions and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Quality.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, General Mills, Inc. or Hormel Foods Corporation Stock?

Overall, General Mills, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 58, Momentum Score of 20 and Estimate Revisions Score of 45.

Hormel Foods Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 58, Momentum Score of 33 and Estimate Revisions Score of 77.

Comparing General Mills, Inc. and Hormel Foods Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.