Readystate Asset Management LP Has $1.68 Million Holdings in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Readystate Asset Management LP decreased its holdings in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 60.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,765 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $1,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,713 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,605 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $28,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Smithfield Foods by 553.2% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 899,200 shares during the period.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFD opened at $27.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of -0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $25.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.49. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $21.08 and a one year high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.48%.The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 48.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFD has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.88.

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.