Royal Bank of Canada Has $1.92 Million Holdings in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 62.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 68,666 shares of the company’s stock after selling 112,708 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $1,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV lifted its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 10,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 1.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter worth $25,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SFD. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of SFD stock opened at $22.53 on Wednesday. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.08 and a 12 month high of $29.81. The company has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41 and a beta of -0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

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

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.