Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 87,965 Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its Smithfield Foods stake by 85.6% in the second quarter, selling 87,965 shares and retaining 14,752 shares valued at approximately $357,000.
• Several major institutions, including Norges Bank, BlackRock, Bank of America, Assenagon Asset Management and Bank of New York Mellon, initiated positions in Smithfield Foods. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $31 target price.
• Smithfield Foods reported quarterly EPS of $0.62, exceeding expectations, while revenue declined 2.3% year over year to $3.70 billion. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.3125 per share, equating to a 6.2% annualized yield.

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) by 85.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,752 shares of the company's stock after selling 87,965 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,291,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,145,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $19,855,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $18,975,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $16,444,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SFD. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:SFD opened at $20.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.49 and a beta of -0.51. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $23.74 and a 200 day moving average of $25.22. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.90 and a 52 week high of $29.81.

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

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

Smithfield Foods Profile

Smithfield Foods, Inc is a food company focused on pork production and processing. Its operations include raising hogs, processing fresh pork, and producing packaged meats and prepared foods for retail, foodservice and other customers.

The company markets products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Gwaltney, John Morrell and Healthy Ones. Its offerings include fresh pork cuts, bacon, ham, sausage, lunch meats, hot dogs and other prepared pork products.

Founded in 1936 and headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, Smithfield serves customers in the United States and international markets through its production, processing and distribution network.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.