Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a report released on Tuesday. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 42.86% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SFD. UBS Group assumed coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.86.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

Shares of SFD opened at $19.60 on Tuesday. Smithfield Foods has a 12 month low of $18.43 and a 12 month high of $22.03.

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) last released its 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 Smithfield Foods news, CEO Charles Shane Smith bought 30,000 shares of Smithfield Foods stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $600,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 120,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,400,000. This trade represents a 33.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 364,518,817 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 59,000 shares of company stock worth $1,180,000. Company 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.