Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Invests $1.02 Million in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 36,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,343,000 after buying an additional 1,760,713 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443,605 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 583.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 553.2% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 899,200 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SFD shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.88.

Smithfield Foods Stock Down 3.0%

NASDAQ SFD opened at $24.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.08 and a 52 week high of $29.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of -0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.07.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 6.48% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share 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 given a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 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.