Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Shares Up 3.2% - Should You Buy?

Smithfield Foods, Inc (NASDAQ:SFD - Get Free Report) shares traded up 3.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $19.84 and last traded at $19.76. 294,716 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 843,745 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SFD shares. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Smithfield Foods to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. HSBC began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $27.86.

Smithfield Foods Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.44. The company has a market cap of $7.95 billion and a PE ratio of 8.91.

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

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Smithfield Foods's payout ratio is currently 44.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 2,506,936 shares of the company's 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 $7,290,376,340. This represents a 0.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles Shane Smith purchased 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 120,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,400,000. This represents a 33.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 59,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,180,000 in the last quarter. 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.