Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $18.48 and last traded at $18.4950, with a volume of 1357706 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.78.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SFD. Zacks Research lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America lowered Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday. Stephens began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Smithfield Foods from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 6.91 and a beta of -0.41.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 6.84%.The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Smithfield Foods’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.64%.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFD. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $19,855,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $33,145,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $6,656,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Smithfield Foods by 144.9% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 112,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 66,519 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,815,000.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

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.