Dayah Capital LLC Buys Shares of 70,000 Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Dayah Capital LLC bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 70,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,958,000. Smithfield Foods accounts for approximately 0.7% of Dayah Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SFD. UBS Group AG increased its position in Smithfield Foods by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,023,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,858,000 after buying an additional 329,187 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the third quarter worth about $4,735,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 401.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 182,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,284,000 after buying an additional 146,086 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 166,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,706,000 after acquiring an additional 51,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 341.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 21,317 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SFD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.88.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ SFD opened at $26.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.55. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.08 and a twelve month high of $29.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39 and a beta of -0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.41.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 6.48%.The company’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Smithfield Foods’s 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.