Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Takes $545,000 Position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new stake in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 24,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFD. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Smithfield Foods by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 374,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,361,000 after purchasing an additional 29,150 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Smithfield Foods by 341.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,317 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the fourth quarter worth about $595,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods by 401.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 182,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,284,000 after purchasing an additional 146,086 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,735,000.

Smithfield Foods Stock Down 0.8%

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $28.37 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.15. The firm has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30 and a beta of -0.33. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.55 and a 52 week high of $28.85.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 24th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.19 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS.

Smithfield Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th will be issued a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Smithfield Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.38.

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.