217,468 Shares in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 217,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,856,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 82.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares during the period.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of SFD stock opened at $24.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58 and a beta of -0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.94. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.08 and a 1 year high of $29.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.48%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 48.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. 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.com, Smithfield Foods has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.88.

Smithfield Foods 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.