Bank of Nova Scotia Grows Stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 24.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 635,600 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 123,588 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $17,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SFD. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Group One Trading LLC acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 boosted 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. Bank of America lowered their price target 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 upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.88.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

SFD stock opened at $26.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26 and a beta of -0.41. 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’s 50 day moving average is $25.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.39. 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 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 business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 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.