Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Posted by Stanley Muller on May 27th, 2026

Zacks Research lowered shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD – Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Smithfield Foods from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Smithfield Foods from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Smithfield Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Smithfield Foods presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.88.

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Smithfield Foods Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of SFD stock opened at $26.25 on Monday. Smithfield Foods has a 1-year low of $21.08 and a 1-year high of $29.81. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25 and a beta of -0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.35.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Smithfield Foods will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Smithfield Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.3125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is 48.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Smithfield Foods by 94.0% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,634,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760,713 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in Smithfield Foods by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,090,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,670,000 after purchasing an additional 253,286 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 653.3% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,664,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,084,000 after buying an additional 1,443,605 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,560,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,849,000 after buying an additional 348,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Smithfield Foods by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,431,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,955,000 after buying an additional 109,254 shares during the last quarter.

Smithfield Foods Company Profile

(Get 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.