Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $18.31 and last traded at $18.32, with a volume of 165,291 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $21.00 price target on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday. Stephens began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research cut Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.85 and a beta of -0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.17 and its 200-day moving average is $24.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the second quarter worth $19,855,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $33,145,000. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $6,656,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Smithfield Foods by 144.9% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 112,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,727,000 after buying an additional 66,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $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.