Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Now Covered by Barclays

Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock.

SFD has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 4.6 %

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $20.60 on Monday. Smithfield Foods has a 12-month low of $19.10 and a 12-month high of $22.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Tennille J. Checkovich bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $40,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,000 shares in the company, valued at $240,000. The trade was a 20.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 2,506,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $50,138,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 364,518,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,290,376,340. This represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 59,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,180,000 in the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

Smithfield Foods, Inc produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. The Company operates in four segments: Pork, Hog Production, International and Corporate, each of which consists of a number of subsidiaries, joint ventures and other investments.