Live Oak Investment Partners Buys Shares of 35,536 Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 35,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SFD. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 36.8% during the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV boosted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 5.8% in the first quarter. Capital Financial Group Inc. Co. ADV now owns 10,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 1.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 68,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Group One Trading LLC acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter worth $31,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SFD. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.50.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of SFD opened at $22.55 on Thursday. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.08 and a 52-week high of $29.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 2.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of -0.44.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.84% and a return on equity of 15.55%. The company’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is currently 46.64%.

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.