Smithfield Foods, Inc (NASDAQ:SFD) Plans $0.25 Dividend

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

Smithfield Foods has a dividend payout ratio of 44.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Smithfield Foods Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of Smithfield Foods stock traded up $0.57 on Wednesday, hitting $19.71. The company had a trading volume of 1,137,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,278. Smithfield Foods has a twelve month low of $18.43 and a twelve month high of $22.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion and a PE ratio of 8.68.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.91 billion.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smithfield Foods

In other Smithfield Foods news, CEO Charles Shane Smith acquired 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $600,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 120,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,400,000. This represents a 33.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 2,506,936 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $50,138,720.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 364,518,817 shares in the company, valued at $7,290,376,340. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired 59,000 shares of company stock worth $1,180,000 in the last quarter. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SFD shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. HSBC started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Smithfield Foods currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.86.

About Smithfield Foods

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.