Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $19.56 and last traded at $19.6050, with a volume of 348794 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SFD. Weiss Ratings downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Zacks Research cut Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 3.2%

The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.06 and a beta of -0.51.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 6.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Smithfield Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is presently 46.64%.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

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

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc is a food company focused on pork production and processing. Its operations include raising hogs, processing fresh pork, and producing packaged meats and prepared foods for retail, foodservice and other customers.

The company markets products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Gwaltney, John Morrell and Healthy Ones. Its offerings include fresh pork cuts, bacon, ham, sausage, lunch meats, hot dogs and other prepared pork products.

Founded in 1936 and headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, Smithfield serves customers in the United States and international markets through its production, processing and distribution network.