Rhumbline Advisers Purchases New Stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Key Points

• Rhumbline Advisers has acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods worth approximately $394,000, alongside other institutional investors who have also made significant purchases in the first quarter.
• Analysts have upgraded Smithfield Foods with a consensus average price target of $28.44, with some giving it a "strong-buy" rating.
• Smithfield Foods recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.2%.

Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $1,040,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $213,000. Amalgamated Bank bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,587,000. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $102,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $28.50 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $28.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Long Wan bought 1,800,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $41,850,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,060,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $117,645,000. The trade was a 55.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Donovan Owens acquired 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $279,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 1,831,753 shares of company stock worth $42,588,257. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Smithfield Foods Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ SFD opened at $24.08 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $24.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.82. The firm has a market cap of $9.47 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.61. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.43 and a 52 week high of $26.07.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.62 billion. The business's revenue for the quarter 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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Smithfield Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.05%.

Smithfield Foods Profile

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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