Is HRL a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Hormel Foods Corporation on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how HRL compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Hormel Foods Corporation's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to HRL based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes HRL a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

HRL - Hormel Foods Corporation

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $26.20 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

C+ 57.8 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

D+ 39.0

5yr Avg ROIC 7.3% 47/100
Operating Margin Trend -0.94 pp/yr 22/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

C+ 61.1

5yr Avg ROE 10.1% 60/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 0.1% 62/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

F 26.8

5yr Revenue CAGR 1.5% 33/100
5yr EPS CAGR -14.9% 0/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 3/5 60/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

B+ 75.9

5yr FCF Margin 6.6% 56/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.01x 100/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

B+ 76.6

Net Debt / EBITDA 2.14x 67/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 9.50x 83/100
Altman Z-Score 3.39 86/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

B- 67.5

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.18 72/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 2/5 60/100

4 of 4 gurus held; 1 added; 3 trimmed.

Holders: 4
Avg Δ position: -32.9%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 0

Dalio decreased -88%
Wood decreased -88%
Greenblatt increased +76%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.