Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Smithfield Foods from a "buy" to a "hold" in a research note issued Saturday.
• Despite that downgrade, several brokers including Morgan Stanley and Barclays raised price targets and ratings, and the consensus remains a Buy with an average price target of about $29.88.
• Smithfield recently beat Q4 estimates with $0.64 EPS versus $0.58 expected and $3.80B in revenue, and the stock trades around $26.29 with a market cap of $10.34B and a PE of ~10.3.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $29.88.

Smithfield Foods Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ SFD opened at $26.29 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $26.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.87. The stock has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27 and a beta of -0.49. Smithfield Foods has a 12 month low of $21.08 and a 12 month high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 76.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,080 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 10,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,616,000 after buying an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000.

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.

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