Comparing Smithfield Foods (SFD) and Its Rivals

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) is one of 330 public companies in the “Food Products” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Smithfield Foods to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Smithfield Foods and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smithfield Foods	$15.53 billion	$987.00 million	8.39
Smithfield Foods Competitors	$7.36 billion	$702.20 million	-324.40

Smithfield Foods has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Smithfield Foods is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Smithfield Foods pays an annual dividend of $1.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. Smithfield Foods pays out 46.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Food Products” companies pay a dividend yield of 11.7% and pay out 31.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Smithfield Foods lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Smithfield Foods has a beta of -0.44, meaning that its stock price is 144% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smithfield Foods’ competitors have a beta of -3.82, meaning that their average stock price is 482% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Smithfield Foods and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smithfield Foods	6.84%	15.55%	8.84%
Smithfield Foods Competitors	-13.85%	-147.19%	-4.44%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

39.2% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Smithfield Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.7% of shares of all “Food Products” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Smithfield Foods and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smithfield Foods	1	0	5	0	2.67
Smithfield Foods Competitors	2356	8192	8270	398	2.35

Smithfield Foods currently has a consensus price target of $31.50, indicating a potential upside of 40.03%. As a group, “Food Products” companies have a potential upside of 12.29%. Given Smithfield Foods’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Smithfield Foods is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Smithfield Foods beats its competitors on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc. produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. The Company operates in four segments: Pork, Hog Production, International and Corporate, each of which consists of a number of subsidiaries, joint ventures and other investments. The Pork segment consists mainly of its three wholly owned United States fresh pork and packaged meats subsidiaries: The Smithfield Packing Company, Inc. (Smithfield Packing), Farmland Foods, Inc. (Farmland Foods) and John Morrell Food Group (John Morrell). The Hog Production segment consists of the Company’s hog production operations located in the United States. On September 2012 (fiscal 2013), the Company acquired a 70% controlling interest in American Skin Food Group, LLC. Effective September 26, 2013, Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd merged with Smithfield Foods Inc, a producer and wholesaler of pork meat products.