Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 29,040 Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 63.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,584 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,040 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,713 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in Smithfield Foods by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,090,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,670,000 after buying an additional 253,286 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after buying an additional 1,443,605 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,560,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,849,000 after buying an additional 348,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,431,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,955,000 after buying an additional 109,254 shares during the last quarter.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFD opened at $24.69 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.41. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.08 and a fifty-two week high of $29.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.21. The company has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64 and a beta of -0.41.

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

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.88.

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.