Bank of America Corp DE Buys 531,461 Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Key Points

• Bank of America significantly increased its Smithfield Foods stake by 531,461 shares, bringing its total holdings to 807,111 shares valued at approximately $22.6 million, or 0.21% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with five Buy ratings and one Sell rating. Smithfield has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $31.50, despite some recent target-price reductions and a Zacks downgrade to “Strong Sell.”
• Smithfield reported quarterly earnings of $0.62 per share, exceeding estimates, while revenue fell 2.3% year over year. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3125 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 5.5%.

Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) by 192.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 807,111 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 531,461 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.21% of Smithfield Foods worth $22,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the third quarter worth about $37,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SFD shares. Barclays dropped their target price on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. 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 research note on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.50.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 0.7%

SFD stock opened at $22.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44 and a beta of -0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.56. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a one year low of $21.08 and a one year high of $29.81. The company's 50 day moving average price is $25.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.64.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

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

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

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.

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