Smithfield Foods, Inc to Issue -- Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:SFD)

Smithfield Foods, Inc (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) declared a -- dividend on Monday, March 24th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders 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% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SFD traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $20.23. 546,012 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 851,657. The business's 50 day moving average is $20.44. Smithfield Foods has a 1-year low of $18.43 and a 1-year high of $22.03. The company has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.91.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.91 billion.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hank Shenghua He purchased 17,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $340,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 77,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000. This trade represents a 28.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tennille J. Checkovich acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $40,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $240,000. The trade was a 20.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 59,000 shares of company stock worth $1,180,000 over the last ninety days. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SFD shares. HSBC assumed coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. Citigroup began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price 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.