Smithfield Foods, Inc’s Quiet Period Set To End Tomorrow (NASDAQ:SFD)

Smithfield Foods’ (NASDAQ:SFD) quiet period will end on Monday, March 10th. Smithfield Foods had issued 26,086,958 shares in its public offering on January 28th. The total size of the offering was $521,739,160 based on an initial share price of $20.00. During Smithfield Foods’ quiet period, insiders and any underwriters that worked on the IPO are prevented from issuing any research reports for the company because of SEC regulations. Following the end of the company’s quiet period, it’s expected that the brokerages that served as underwriters on the stock will initiate research coverage on the company.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of SFD opened at $19.30 on Friday. Smithfield Foods has a 52 week low of $19.10 and a 52 week high of $22.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Tennille J. Checkovich bought 2,000 shares of Smithfield Foods stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $40,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,000. The trade was a 20.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 2,506,936 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $50,138,720.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 364,518,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,290,376,340. The trade was a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 59,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,180,000. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

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.