Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

SFD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $21.00 price objective on Smithfield Foods in a report on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. 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. Stephens started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 9th.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

SFD stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $18.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,323,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,157,518. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.37. Smithfield Foods has a 12-month low of $18.17 and a 12-month high of $29.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96 and a beta of -0.41. 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 (NASDAQ:SFD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods will post 2.03 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.7%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 46.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 36.8% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

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.