Fourth Sail Capital LP Has $25.47 Million Stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Fourth Sail Capital LP increased its stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,140,619 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,038 shares during the period. Smithfield Foods makes up approximately 4.1% of Fourth Sail Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Fourth Sail Capital LP owned approximately 0.29% of Smithfield Foods worth $25,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760,713 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 73.2% in the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,836,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,126,000 after acquiring an additional 776,330 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,605 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,560,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,849,000 after acquiring an additional 348,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,431,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,955,000 after acquiring an additional 109,254 shares in the last quarter.

Smithfield Foods Trading Up 0.7%

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $26.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.76. 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 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of -0.49.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current 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 $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 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. 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 report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.88.

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.