Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

SFD has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Friday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Smithfield Foods Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of SFD opened at $22.76 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.64. Smithfield Foods has a 12 month low of $21.08 and a 12 month high of $29.81. The company has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of -0.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $1,456,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the first quarter worth $3,195,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the second quarter valued at $485,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Smithfield Foods by 7,016.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 35,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 38,580 shares during the period.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

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.