Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD Stock: Kestra Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings

Kestra Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) by 22.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 116,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,159 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Smithfield Foods were worth $2,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SFD. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Smithfield Foods by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 290,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,395,000 after purchasing an additional 31,985 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in Smithfield Foods by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 37,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 5,419 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Smithfield Foods by 371.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 106,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 83,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Smithfield Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $262,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SFD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $21.00 target price on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Stephens reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.67.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 1.4%

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $19.25 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.34 and its 200-day moving average is $23.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.39. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.91 and a 1 year high of $29.81. The company has a market cap of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of -0.39.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. Smithfield Foods had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. Smithfield Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.82%.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a U.S.-based food company focused on pork production and packaged meats. Its operations span hog farming, meat processing and the manufacture and marketing of fresh pork and prepared foods. The company sells products under brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Farmland, Armour and Cook’s. Its offerings include fresh pork, bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs and other packaged meat products for retail, food-service and wholesale customers. Founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, the company has grown from a regional meat processor into a major pork producer.