Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Stock Rating Cut to “Neutral” at Bank of America

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) was downgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $21.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 11.23% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Smithfield Foods Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Smithfield Foods stock opened at $18.88 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of -0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Smithfield Foods has a 12 month low of $18.43 and a 12 month high of $29.81.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFD. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the first quarter worth $31,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the second quarter valued at $58,000.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc is a vertically integrated food company focused on pork production and packaged meats. Its operations include raising livestock, processing and packaging pork, and distributing fresh pork and prepared foods. The company’s products include bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, lunch meats, fresh pork cuts and other refrigerated and shelf-stable meat products.

Smithfield markets products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Nathan’s Famous and Healthy Ones, as well as private-label offerings for retailers and food-service customers.