Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stock Holdings in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) by 24.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 635,600 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 123,588 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.16% of Smithfield Foods worth $17,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Group One Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFD opened at $26.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.08 and a 1-year high of $29.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of -0.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $25.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.39.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The company's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Smithfield Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Smithfield Foods from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.88.

Smithfield Foods 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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