BNP Paribas Begins Coverage on Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD)

BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock.

SFD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.67.

Smithfield Foods Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFD opened at $20.60 on Monday. Smithfield Foods has a fifty-two week low of $19.10 and a fifty-two week high of $22.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Group Ltd/Adr Wh sold 2,506,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 364,518,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,290,376,340. This trade represents a 0.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tennille J. Checkovich acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $40,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,000. This represents a 20.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 59,000 shares of company stock worth $1,180,000. Corporate 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.