SG Americas Securities LLC Has $7.31 Million Stock Position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 848.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 261,461 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 233,897 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.07% of Smithfield Foods worth $7,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SFD. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Smithfield Foods by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter.

Smithfield Foods Trading Up 2.9%

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $25.12 on Friday. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.08 and a 12 month high of $29.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81 and a beta of -0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.00.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.48%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SFD. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.88.

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.