Smithfield Foods, Inc (SFD) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 10th

Smithfield Foods, Inc (NASDAQ:SFD) declared a — dividend on Monday, March 24th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Tuesday, April 22nd. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th.

Smithfield Foods has a payout ratio of 44.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFD opened at $19.30 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.42. Smithfield Foods has a 52 week low of $18.43 and a 52 week high of $22.03. The stock has a market cap of $7.59 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.91 billion.

Insider Transactions at Smithfield Foods

In related news, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 13,043,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $260,869,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 367,025,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,340,515,060. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Hank Shenghua He bought 17,000 shares of Smithfield Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $340,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 77,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,540,000. This trade represents a 28.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 59,000 shares of company stock worth $1,180,000. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SFD. HSBC began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.86.

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.