Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 36,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the first quarter valued at about $1,456,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,195,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 129.2% in the 2nd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 290,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,798,000 after acquiring an additional 163,860 shares during the period. CWM LLC purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $418,000.

Smithfield Foods Stock Down 1.5%

SFD opened at $22.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.94 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.25. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.43 and a 52 week high of $26.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.13.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. Smithfield Foods’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SFD. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 target price on Smithfield Foods and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.31.

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.