Dayah Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 70,000 Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Dayah Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 70,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,958,000. Smithfield Foods comprises about 0.7% of Dayah Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SFD. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,713 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,605 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 583.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 553.2% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 899,200 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on SFD shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.88.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Smithfield Foods stock opened at $26.59 on Friday. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.08 and a 1 year high of $29.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.39 and a beta of -0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.55.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Smithfield Foods’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.83%.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc (NASDAQ: SFD) is one of the world’s largest pork processors and hog producers. Founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, the company has grown from a regional ham producer into a fully integrated food company offering a broad range of fresh pork, value-added meats and prepared foods. Its product portfolio includes bacon, ham, sausage, ribs and deli meats marketed under well-known brands such as Smithfield®, Nathan’s Famous® and Eckrich®.

Smithfield operates a network of hog production facilities, processing plants and distribution centers across the United States, Europe and Latin America.