Smithfield Foods, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.31 (NASDAQ:SFD)

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.3125 per share on Thursday, May 28th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th.

Smithfield Foods has a payout ratio of 54.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Smithfield Foods to earn $2.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.25 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.5%.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Shares of SFD opened at $26.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of -0.33. Smithfield Foods has a fifty-two week low of $21.08 and a fifty-two week high of $29.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.87.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 76.5% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the third quarter valued at about $37,000.

About Smithfield Foods

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.