Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) Receives $31.50 Average PT from Brokerages

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.50.

SFD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SFD. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,456,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter worth $3,195,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $485,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 7,016.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 35,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 267.1% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 38,580 shares during the period.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $21.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.19 and a beta of -0.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Smithfield Foods has a 12-month low of $21.08 and a 12-month high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.84% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is 46.64%.

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.