2023 was a year many pork companies would rather forget, with some calling it possibly the worst year on record as costs soared for farmers with accelerating inflation at that time. But as that year fades into memory, profits are returning for many, including leading U.S. producer Smithfield Foods Inc.
The company’s owner, China’s WH Group (0288.HK), is seizing on the turnaround by serving up a Smithfield IPO, whose details were disclosed in a filing with the U.S. securities regulator this week. WH Group first indicated it planned to separately list Smithfield last July, and issued its own brief announcement this week on the application.
Investors have been quite excited about this spinoff, bidding up WH Group’s shares by as much as 34% over the last six months. And despite a recent pullback, the stock is still up 18% since last July, which isn’t bad for this kind of very old-economy stock. Still, the company currently trades at a relatively low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 8, well below the roughly 25 for both Chinese rival Muyuan Foods (002714.SZ) and U.S.-based Tyson Foods (TSN.US).