Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) Raises Dividend to $0.31 Per Share

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th will be given a dividend of 0.3125 per share on Tuesday, April 21st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 7th. This is a 25.0% increase from Smithfield Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25.

Smithfield Foods has a dividend payout ratio of 43.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Shares of SFD stock traded up $1.00 on Tuesday, reaching $24.48. 4,809,866 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 972,484. Smithfield Foods has a 1 year low of $18.55 and a 1 year high of $26.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.98. The company has a market cap of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.12.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.16. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% during the third 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 period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,034,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 553.2% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,930,000 after acquiring an additional 899,200 shares in the last quarter.

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.