Renaissance Capital LLC Has $657,000 Position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Key Points

• Renaissance Capital LLC reduced its stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. by 45.3%, now holding 27,925 shares valued at approximately $657,000.
• Brokerages have issued positive ratings for Smithfield Foods, with price targets increased to between $28.50 and $30.00 and a consensus rating of "Buy."
• Smithfield Foods announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing a yield of 4.3%, with a payout ratio of 44.05%.

Renaissance Capital LLC reduced its stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) by 45.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,925 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,094 shares during the period. Smithfield Foods comprises approximately 0.5% of Renaissance Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Renaissance Capital LLC's holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFD. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Security National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $74,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SFD. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $28.50 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hank Shenghua He acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $232,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 87,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,022,750. The trade was a 12.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Donovan Owens acquired 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $279,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 77,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,790,250. The trade was a 18.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,831,753 shares of company stock worth $42,588,257. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Smithfield Foods Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ SFD opened at $23.39 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.96. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.43 and a 12-month high of $26.07. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.30.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.62 billion. Smithfield Foods's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Smithfield Foods's payout ratio is currently 44.05%.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. The Company operates in four segments: Pork, Hog Production, International and Corporate, each of which consists of a number of subsidiaries, joint ventures and other investments.

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