Sei Investments Co. Increases Holdings in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 105.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 396,032 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 203,423 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $11,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SFD. Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter worth about $304,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Smithfield Foods by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 632,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,689,000 after purchasing an additional 16,333 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,381,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Smithfield Foods by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,469 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.88.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Shares of SFD opened at $26.04 on Friday. 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 one year low of $21.08 and a one year high of $29.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of -0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.66 and a 200 day moving average of $25.56.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be given a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.83%.

Smithfield Foods Company 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.