Core Capital Management & Research inc. Acquires Shares of 299,005 Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Key Points

• Core Capital Management & Research acquired 299,005 Smithfield Foods shares worth approximately $6.66 million, making SFD its sixth-largest holding and representing about 3.5% of its portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with five Buy ratings and one Sell rating; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $31 price target. However, several firms recently lowered their targets, while Zacks downgraded the stock to “Strong Sell.”
• Smithfield Foods shares opened at $20.52, near their 12-month low, despite the company beating quarterly EPS estimates. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.3125, equivalent to an annualized $1.25 dividend and a 6.1% yield.

Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 299,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,656,000. Smithfield Foods makes up about 3.5% of Core Capital Management & Research inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Core Capital Management & Research inc. owned 0.08% of Smithfield Foods at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 36.8% in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV grew its stake in Smithfield Foods by 5.8% in the first quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 10,863 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Smithfield Foods by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Smithfield Foods Stock Down 6.8%

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $20.52 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66 and a beta of -0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.36. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.36 and a twelve month high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 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 firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. Smithfield Foods's payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

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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