Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on SFD. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.50.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

SFD opened at $22.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of -0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $25.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.64. Smithfield Foods has a 1 year low of $21.08 and a 1 year high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.84% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 36.8% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV raised its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 5.8% in the first 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 during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 46.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the period. Finally, Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter worth $31,000.

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.