Smithfield Foods Inc said on Friday it would review a letter from shareholder Continental Grain Co, which is urging the top U.S. hog producer to consider steps such as splitting into three units and initiating a regular cash dividend.Shares of Smithfield rose 3.3 percent to $25.50 in premarket trading.Smithfield said it had received the Continental Grain letter but did not discuss the details. Continental made the letter public on Thursday, revealing its recommendations for Smithfield.Continental Grain is among Smithfield's largest shareholders. Collectively, Continental Grain and its affiliates own 8,391,653 shares of Smithfield, or a stake of roughly 6.05 percent, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
Smithfield Foods, Inc. produces and markets a variety of fresh meat and packaged meats products both domestically and internationally. Shares of SFD remained unchanged at $24.68. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $17.55 and as high as $25.03. On average, 1875390 shares of SFD exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 35255.
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