Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD Shares Sold by Walleye Capital LLC

Walleye Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 71.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 213,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 531,115 shares during the quarter. Walleye Capital LLC’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $5,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV raised its stake in Smithfield Foods by 5.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position 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 worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SFD shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. 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 report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.88.

Smithfield Foods Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:SFD opened at $26.44 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.55 and a 200-day moving average of $25.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.33 and a beta of -0.41. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.08 and a 52 week high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.83%.

Smithfield Foods Profile

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.