Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a research note published on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. HSBC assumed coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $27.86.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Smithfield Foods stock opened at $19.14 on Tuesday. Smithfield Foods has a 1 year low of $18.43 and a 1 year high of $22.03.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01).

Insider Transactions at Smithfield Foods

In other news, insider Tennille J. Checkovich purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $40,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,000 shares in the company, valued at $240,000. The trade was a 20.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 2,506,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $50,138,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 364,518,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,290,376,340. This represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 59,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,180,000. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

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.