Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Takes Position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 36,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Parallel Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 82.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 1,816 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 3.0%

SFD stock opened at $24.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.08 and a 1-year high of $29.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.07. The company has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of -0.49.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.06. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were issued a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is currently 48.83%.

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.