Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 51,977 Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,250 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 51,977 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $3,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SFD. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,713 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,090,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,670,000 after purchasing an additional 253,286 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,605 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Smithfield Foods by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,560,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,849,000 after purchasing an additional 348,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Smithfield Foods by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,431,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,955,000 after purchasing an additional 109,254 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.88.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of Smithfield Foods stock opened at $25.12 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.03. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.08 and a 52-week high of $29.81. The firm has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81 and a beta of -0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.41.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.06. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.48%.The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is currently 48.83%.

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.