Global Retirement Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 74,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,815,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in Smithfield Foods by 36.8% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV grew its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 5.8% during the first quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 10,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Smithfield Foods by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in Smithfield Foods by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the period. Finally, Group One Trading LLC acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ SFD opened at $22.61 on Tuesday. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.08 and a 12 month high of $29.81. The company has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.44 and a beta of -0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.64.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SFD. Barclays decreased their target price on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

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.