Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) Short Interest Up 29.2% in March

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFD) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,324,250 shares, an increase of 29.2% from the March 15th total of 3,346,284 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,466,897 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

SFD opened at $28.03 on Thursday. Smithfield Foods has a one year low of $19.31 and a one year high of $29.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17 and a beta of -0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.45.

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

Smithfield Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.3125 per share. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. This is a positive change from Smithfield Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 7th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is currently 39.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SFD. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $29.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFD. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,713 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 653.3% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443,605 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Smithfield Foods during the fourth quarter worth $31,291,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 583.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,212,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Smithfield Foods by 553.2% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,061,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,930,000 after purchasing an additional 899,200 shares in the last quarter.

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.