Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $29.00 to $31.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 20.02% from the stock’s current price.

SFD has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.38.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of Smithfield Foods stock opened at $25.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.02. The stock has a market cap 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.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Smithfield Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,713 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 583.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 553.2% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 899,200 shares during the period.

Smithfield Foods Company 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.