Diversified Trust Co Makes New $519,000 Investment in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 22,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Security National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter valued at about $67,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at about $3,195,000. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at about $394,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at about $56,087,000. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at about $35,621,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $28.50 price target (up from $25.00) on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $28.44.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

SFD opened at $24.11 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.81. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $18.43 and a one year high of $26.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.62.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.62 billion. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Smithfield Foods news, Director Hank Shenghua He purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $232,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 87,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,022,750. This trade represents a 12.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Long Wan purchased 1,800,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $41,850,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,060,000 shares in the company, valued at $117,645,000. This trade represents a 55.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 1,831,753 shares of company stock worth $42,588,257 over the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

Smithfield Foods, Inc produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. The Company operates in four segments: Pork, Hog Production, International and Corporate, each of which consists of a number of subsidiaries, joint ventures and other investments.