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Jim Cramer - Mad MoneyHormel Foods CorpHRLPARTIAL BUYDec 04, 2023

Had a recent weak quarter, but could benefit from the weight-loss drugs need users to consume more protein

Jim Cramer - Mad Money

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Stock price when the opinion was issued

$23.32

As of Jun 02, 2026. Market Open.

food services

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BUY

At lot of names in the food space ramped up over the past decade, and have now come back to earth in the last 2-3 years. As a value investor, he loves the sector. We all need to eat, and eventually things will turn around.

Input costs are a consideration for the next year for sure. Higher oil and supply disruptions in the Middle East are the cause. Those are short-term factors, but a lot of that is already discounted in current stock prices.

He's overweight a bunch of the food names.

DON'T BUY

Is an analysts meeting on Thursday. All food stocks are getting killed these days.

DON'T BUY

Is up 13% for the past year. They make Spam, Planter's Peanuts and other packaged food, an industry that has held up better than the market. Hormel just released its quarter and it was mixed: 51 cents EPS vs. expected 50 cents, lower than expected sales which worries him, a weak 2023 forecast because of a volatile, high-cost environment.

COMMENT

Hormel reports Wednesday. They sell much more than spam, though Spam sells well in a recession. General Mills and Pepsi have shown strength, and maybe HRL will too.

BUY

It reports Thursday. It's down big from its highs, even after managers have made terrific moves in its portfolio. Its Spam will always sell and always has.

BUY

They report Thursday. He hopes they buck the trend of food stocks facing tough comparisons vs. a year ago. They recently bought Planter's Nuts, an under-managed food brand. He suspects this deal to have paid off already for them.

BUY

It reports next week. He expects sales to rise as they did in the spring lockdown because restaurants were closed.

COMMENT

It's always been a good company due to their ability to allocate capital appropriately. They were struggling before due to pork prices for SPAM. They're also in the spreads business like Skippy's. 5 year dividend growth is 16%. If they continue to keep margins up, it is a good company.

BUY

He ate Spam as a kid, a cheap meat. HRL has transformed from producing Spam to delivering packaged goods, so that has added value. Millennials are cooking less, so there's growing demand for ready-made meals. This means that HRL should do well.

DON'T BUY

It is a good and well managed company. It is a protein company and there are problems with protein pricing due to epidemics in livestock recently. He thinks it is 'too-hard-to-do'. It is too risky.

DON'T BUY

It's suffering like Kraft with almost no revenue or earnings growth with a PE of 20. Their brands are not the best.

DON'T BUY

He remains out of the staples sector. It has gone into a consolidation trading pattern. At 22 times earnings, it is not cheap. He would stay away for now.

DON'T BUY

This is like so many other companies these days. It is a zero-growth business with minimal earnings growth that is squeezing out a few dollars here and there to increase its dividend every year. He doesn’t like the business model, because if you are not reinvesting in your business over time, it is pretty tough to find growth. Trading at over 20X earnings.

COMMENT

OK at these levels, but he would just do a half position now if he were getting into it. Growth is starting to slow a little on the top side, and they are struggling a little with some of their pork products because of rising prices. He would only do a half position and see what happens with that.

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