DAVENPORT & Co LLC Boosts Stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 374,618 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,150 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned 0.10% of Smithfield Foods worth $8,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFD. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,343,000 after buying an additional 1,760,713 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,836,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,126,000 after acquiring an additional 776,330 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,605 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $31,295,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 583.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,814 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SFD shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.38.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFD opened at $25.83 on Friday. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.55 and a 52-week high of $26.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.02.

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

Smithfield Foods Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.3125 per share. This is an increase from Smithfield Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. 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. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.05%.

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.