Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) Receives $31.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.50.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SFD. Barclays lowered their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research cut Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Smithfield Foods Stock Up 0.2%

SFD stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. Smithfield Foods has a twelve month low of $21.08 and a twelve month high of $29.81. The company has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25 and a beta of -0.44. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 6.84%.The company’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is 46.64%.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFD. Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000.

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.