Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised Smithfield Foods from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.38.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFD opened at $25.83 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.12. Smithfield Foods has a 1-year low of $18.55 and a 1-year high of $26.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.02.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.19 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Smithfield Foods

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,090,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,670,000 after buying an additional 253,286 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after buying an additional 1,443,605 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,560,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,849,000 after buying an additional 348,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,431,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,955,000 after buying an additional 109,254 shares during the last quarter.

About Smithfield Foods

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.