Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $18.80 and last traded at $18.8470, with a volume of 317192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.20.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.81. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a PE ratio of 6.93 and a beta of -0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 6.84%.Smithfield Foods’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,656,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 2,584.3% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 351,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,517,000 after acquiring an additional 337,977 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $157,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 136.4% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 144.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 112,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 66,519 shares during the period.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

Smithfield Foods, Inc is a vertically integrated food company focused on pork production and packaged meats. Its operations include raising livestock, processing and packaging pork, and distributing fresh pork and prepared foods. The company’s products include bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, lunch meats, fresh pork cuts and other refrigerated and shelf-stable meat products.

Smithfield markets products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Nathan’s Famous and Healthy Ones, as well as private-label offerings for retailers and food-service customers.