Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's Why

Key Points

• Smithfield Foods shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $19.56 and down 1.1%, well below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst views are mixed: Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Barclays remain positive, while Weiss Ratings downgraded the stock to “hold” and Zacks Research issued a “strong sell.” The consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $31 price target.
• The company slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates at $0.62 versus $0.60, though revenue fell 2.3% year over year. Smithfield also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.3125 per share, representing a 6.4% annualized yield.

Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $19.56 and last traded at $19.6050, with a volume of 348794 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SFD shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Smithfield Foods from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research cut Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 1.1%

The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.33 and a beta of -0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.09.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 6.84%.The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. Smithfield Foods's dividend payout ratio is 46.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $31,291,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,145,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $19,855,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $18,975,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,444,000.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc is a food company focused on pork production and processing. Its operations include raising hogs, processing fresh pork, and producing packaged meats and prepared foods for retail, foodservice and other customers.

The company markets products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Gwaltney, John Morrell and Healthy Ones. Its offerings include fresh pork cuts, bacon, ham, sausage, lunch meats, hot dogs and other prepared pork products.

Founded in 1936 and headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia, Smithfield serves customers in the United States and international markets through its production, processing and distribution network.

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.