Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD Shares Sold by Ancora Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors cut its Smithfield Foods position by 96.9% in the second quarter, selling 56,478 shares and retaining 1,780 shares valued at approximately $43,000.
• Smithfield reported quarterly EPS of $0.62, beating estimates of $0.60, while revenue declined 2.3% year over year to $3.70 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.3125, equivalent to a 5.7% annualized yield.
• Shares opened at $21.97, near their 52-week low, despite analysts’ average “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $31.50; five analysts rate the stock a Buy and one rates it a Sell.

Ancora Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) by 96.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,780 shares of the company's stock after selling 56,478 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $43,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the first quarter worth about $1,456,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,195,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $485,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 7,016.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,363 shares of the company's stock worth $856,000 after buying an additional 35,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 267.1% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,025 shares of the company's stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 38,580 shares in the last quarter.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 0.3%

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $21.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.42. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.08 and a 52 week high of $29.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.20 and a beta of -0.51.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.84% and a return on equity of 15.55%. Smithfield Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 5.7%. Smithfield Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFD has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered Smithfield Foods from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research downgraded Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.50.

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.

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source