Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $18.80 and last traded at $18.8470, with a volume of 317192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $31.00 to $29.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.20.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.05 and a beta of -0.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.87.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 6.84%.The company’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.3125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.6%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Group One Trading LLC bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 36.8% in the first quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

Smithfield Foods, Inc is a vertically integrated food company focused on pork production and packaged meats. Its operations include raising livestock, processing and packaging pork, and distributing fresh pork and prepared foods. The company’s products include bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, lunch meats, fresh pork cuts and other refrigerated and shelf-stable meat products.

Smithfield markets products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Nathan’s Famous and Healthy Ones, as well as private-label offerings for retailers and food-service customers.