Royal Palms Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Smithfield Foods, Inc. $SFD

by · The Cerbat Gem

Royal Palms Capital LLC purchased a new position in Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 57,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,000. Smithfield Foods accounts for about 1.5% of Royal Palms Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strs Ohio grew its position in Smithfield Foods by 76.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Smithfield Foods in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Smithfield Foods by 82.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 raised their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $29.88.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on SFD

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFD opened at $26.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.77 and a 200-day moving average of $24.35. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25 and a beta of -0.49. Smithfield Foods, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.08 and a 52 week high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Smithfield Foods, Inc. will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. Smithfield Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.83%.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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