Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD Shares Bought by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG increased its stake in Smithfield Foods by 47.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 329,187 additional shares and bringing its holding to 1,023,625 shares valued at about $22.9 million.
• Several other hedge funds also boosted their positions, while analysts remained generally bullish: Smithfield now carries a consensus Buy rating and a price target of $29.88.
• Smithfield reported better-than-expected Q4 results with EPS of $0.64 versus $0.58 expected and revenue of $3.80 billion, and it announced a quarterly dividend of $0.3125 per share, equal to a 4.8% annualized yield.

UBS Group AG lifted its position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,023,625 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 329,187 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 0.26% of Smithfield Foods worth $22,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,713 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company's stock worth $39,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,605 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 583.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company's stock worth $28,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,814 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 553.2% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 899,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP raised its position in Smithfield Foods by 73.2% during the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,836,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,126,000 after buying an additional 776,330 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Smithfield Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Smithfield Foods from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.88.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFD opened at $25.95 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $26.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.00. The company has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.14 and a beta of -0.49. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.08 and a twelve month high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. Smithfield Foods's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Smithfield Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.83%.

Smithfield Foods Company 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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