Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Now Covered by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on SFD. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.67.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ SFD opened at $21.34 on Monday. 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 related news, CEO Charles Shane Smith acquired 30,000 shares of Smithfield Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,000. This trade represents a 33.33 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 13,043,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total transaction of $260,869,580.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 367,025,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,340,515,060. The trade was a 3.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 59,000 shares of company stock worth $1,180,000 in the last three months. 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.