Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) from a "hold" to a "strong-buy", and the stock carries a consensus analyst rating of "Buy" with a consensus target price of $29.38.
• Smithfield beat expectations for the most recent quarter, reporting $0.83 EPS versus a $0.67 estimate and revenue of $4.23 billion (vs. $4.19B expected), with revenue up 7% year-over-year.
• Large institutional investors have been increasing positions recently—Millennium, Zimmer Partners, Balyasny and others materially raised their stakes—while the stock trades near $25.83 with a market cap around $10.16 billion and a P/E of ~10.3.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised Smithfield Foods from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Smithfield Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.38.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFD opened at $25.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.12. Smithfield Foods has a 1-year low of $18.55 and a 1-year high of $26.10. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $24.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.02.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,090,000 shares of the company's stock worth $46,670,000 after buying an additional 253,286 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company's stock worth $39,084,000 after buying an additional 1,443,605 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,560,647 shares of the company's stock worth $34,849,000 after buying an additional 348,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,431,029 shares of the company's stock worth $31,955,000 after buying an additional 109,254 shares during the last quarter.

About Smithfield Foods

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.