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

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SFD. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Bank of America started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Smithfield Foods in a research report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Smithfield Foods Stock Performance

Smithfield Foods stock opened at $21.34 on Monday. Smithfield Foods has a 12 month low of $19.10 and a 12 month high of $22.03.

Insider Activity

In other Smithfield Foods news, CEO Charles Shane Smith bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tennille J. Checkovich bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $40,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $240,000. This trade represents a 20.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 59,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,180,000. Company 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.