Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys 581,100 Shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 232.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 831,100 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 581,100 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned approximately 0.21% of Smithfield Foods worth $23,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SFD. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 1st quarter valued at $1,456,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter valued at $3,195,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter valued at $485,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 7,016.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 36,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 35,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Smithfield Foods by 267.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 53,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 38,580 shares during the last quarter.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ SFD opened at $26.26 on Monday. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.08 and a 12 month high of $29.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.26 and a beta of -0.41.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SFD. Wall Street Zen cut 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 research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.88.

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.