Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Research Coverage Started at Stephens

Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock.

SFD has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.20.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFD opened at $18.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Smithfield Foods has a 52 week low of $18.50 and a 52 week high of $29.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of -0.41.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 6.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Smithfield Foods will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 36.8% in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV raised its stake in Smithfield Foods by 5.8% during the first quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 10,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Group One Trading LLC purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 25,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc is a vertically integrated food company focused on pork production and packaged meats. Its operations include raising livestock, processing and packaging pork, and distributing fresh pork and prepared foods. The company’s products include bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, lunch meats, fresh pork cuts and other refrigerated and shelf-stable meat products.

Smithfield markets products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Nathan’s Famous and Healthy Ones, as well as private-label offerings for retailers and food-service customers.