Bank of America Initiates Coverage on Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD)

Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD - Free Report) in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.67.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

SFD traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $21.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 577,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,317. Smithfield Foods has a fifty-two week low of $19.10 and a fifty-two week high of $22.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smithfield Foods news, insider Tennille J. Checkovich bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $40,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,000. This trade represents a 20.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 2,506,936 shares of Smithfield Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $50,138,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 364,518,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,290,376,340. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 59,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,180,000 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company's stock.

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.