HLMNHillman Solutions Corp.

Cutlery, Handtools & General Hardware

Revenue: $1.6B; 5.4% YoY
Operating margin: 7.3%; 22% YoY
EBITDA: $255M; 17% YoY
Market cap: $1.5B
Employees: 819; $2M revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 2.5×; $632M net debt
AI in 10-K: 0.0; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 3 of 13

Fixable underperformance 1 of 7

TSR below peersYes
5 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
—
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
261% of net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
1% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
12% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
35% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
99% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 2 of 4

Low revenue per employeeNo
$2M · 100th pct
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AIYes
0.0 per 10K words · 0th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
2.5× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedYes
$1.5B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 0 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingNo
−$110K net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$1.4B	$1.5B	$1.5B	$1.5B	$1.6B	5.4%
Operating income	$10M	$40M	$61M	$89M	$114M	28%
Net income	−$38M	−$16M	−$10M	$17M	$40M	134%
Operating cash flow	−$110M	$119M	$238M	$183M	$105M	43%
Capex	$52M	$70M	$66M	$85M	$70M	18%
Stock-based comp	$15M	$14M	$12M	$13M	$14M	5.8%
Buybacks	—	—	$0	$0	$12M

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

Filed	Filer	Form	Stake	Intent
May 17, 2023	CCMP Capital, LP	SC 13D/A	0.0%	Passive
Mar 7, 2023	CCMP Capital, LP	SC 13D/A	11.5%	Passive
Nov 9, 2022	CCMP Capital, LP	SC 13D/A	26.3%	Passive
Apr 19, 2022	CCMP Capital, LP	SC 13D/A	30.7%	Passive
Jul 26, 2021	Jefferies Financial Group Inc.	SC 13D/A	4.6%	Passive
Jul 22, 2021	CCMP Capital, LP	SC 13D	38.4%	Passive
Feb 5, 2021	Jefferies Financial Group Inc.	SC 13D	12.1%	Passive

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $249K · 1
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $359K · 4
Net: −$110K

Pay vs performance

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2025	—	—	89	205
FY2024	—	—	96	183
FY2023	—	—	90	162
FY2022	—	—	70	111
FY2021	—	—	103	126