BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Holdings in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 62.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 504,791 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 194,708 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $11,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SFD. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% during the 3rd 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,605 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 583.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,814 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted 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 acquiring an additional 899,200 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SFD. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. 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 research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.88.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $26.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of -0.49. 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 $27.16 and a 200-day moving average of $24.60. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.08 and a 52 week high of $29.81.

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. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.48%.The business’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 48.83%.

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.