Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.88.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Shares of SFD stock opened at $23.12 on Friday. Smithfield Foods has a fifty-two week low of $18.55 and a fifty-two week high of $26.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.98.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,760,713 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,605 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Smithfield Foods by 583.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,461,000 after buying an additional 1,034,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 899,200 shares during the last quarter.

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.