Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from a hold (c+) rating to a buy (b-) rating. The company traded as high as $26.10 and last traded at $25.9910, with a volume of 991794 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.99.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,713 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after buying an additional 1,443,605 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 4th quarter worth $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 583.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,461,000 after buying an additional 1,034,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 553.2% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,930,000 after buying an additional 899,200 shares in the last quarter.

Smithfield Foods Stock Up 3.4%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.12.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share.

Smithfield Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th will be issued a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 7th. This is a boost from Smithfield Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is currently 45.05%.

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.