Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at HSBC

HSBC started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock.

SFD has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $27.86.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFD opened at $19.65 on Tuesday. Smithfield Foods has a fifty-two week low of $18.43 and a fifty-two week high of $22.03.

Insider Transactions at Smithfield Foods

In other Smithfield Foods news, CEO Charles Shane Smith acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 13,043,479 shares of Smithfield Foods 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 367,025,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,340,515,060. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 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.