Hormel Foods management check
HRL · Consumer Staples · Packaged Foods & Meats · CEO James P. Snee
Filings as of
3 good · 2 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $56, against $103 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.76 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Watch
What does the CEO cost owners?
1.5% of net income$7.4m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $478.0m of net income.
- Good
Do they own the stock?
Insiders are buying1 insider bought $201k on the open market in the last six months, with their own money, near the lows. Sales: $495k.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.1% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.2% of revenue in the latest year.
- Flag
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: James P. Snee, Jeffrey M. Ettinger. 17 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Consumer Staples.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 0 | 31 | |
| Pay for performance | 88 | 84 | |
| CEO cost | 34 | 40 | |
| Skin in the game | 80 | 65 | |
| Dilution | 48 | 60 | |
| Stable leadership | 0 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Packaged Foods & Meats, by management score. Hormel Foods is 27th of 33 in its sector.
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed December 17, 2025. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | James P. Snee, Jeffrey M. Ettinger | $7.4m | $4.3m | $2.2m | $56 | $103 | $478.0m |
| 2024 | James P. Snee | $8.1m | $7.3m | $1.9m | $70 | $119 | $805.0m |
| 2023 | James P. Snee | $6.8m | $458k | $1.6m | $68 | $105 | $794.0m |
| 2022 | James P. Snee | $9.5m | $12.9m | $1.6m | $99 | $122 | $1.0bn |
| 2021 | James P. Snee | $10.0m | $6.5m | $2.1m | $87 | $105 | $909.0m |
The board says pay is tied most to EBIT. Its other key measures: Net Sales, Relative TSR, ROIC, EPS.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
1 insider bought $201k on the open market in the last six months, with their own money, near the lows. Sales: $495k.
- BoughtWilliam A NewlandsDirector$201kOct 5, 2026
- SoldGary C. BhojwaniDirector$495kJul 8, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Aug 24, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 28, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 12, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 13, 2026Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Feb 2, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 31, 2025Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Oct 29, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 23, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 16, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 20, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 14, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 23, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Feb 2, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $3.0bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 74% of net income, and $122.6m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $11.4bn | $12.5bn | $12.1bn | $11.9bn | $12.1bn |
| Net income | $908.8m | $1000.0m | $793.6m | $805.0m | $478.2m |
| Stock-based pay | $24.7m | $24.9m | $24.1m | $23.2m | $25.6m |
| Buybacks | $20.0m | $0 | $12.3m | $0 | $0 |
| Dividends | $523.1m | $557.8m | $592.9m | $615.0m | $633.2m |
| Diluted shares | 548m | 550m | 549m | 549m | 550m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.