Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases Shares of 400,000 Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,156,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.10% of Smithfield Foods as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,587,000. Renaissance Capital LLC bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,040,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $213,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank bought a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFD has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Smithfield Foods to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.86.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFD traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 84,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 709,423. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.43 and a twelve month high of $24.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.16.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.56 billion. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Smithfield Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.