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

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.56 and last traded at $19.6050, with a volume of 348794 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SFD. Barclays reduced their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 1.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.33 and a beta of -0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.09.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.64%.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in Smithfield Foods by 36.8% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000.

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.