By Sarina Isaacs

Shares of Smithfield Foods, which late Monday priced its initial public offering at $20 per share, were ticking higher on their first day of trading.

The stock, trading under the ticker symbol SFD, was up fractionally to $20.06 on Tuesday. Earlier in the session, it was up about 6%.

The IPO was for about 26.1 million shares, split evenly between those sold by Smithfield and those sold by SFDS UK Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Smithfield's parent company, WH Group Limited. Underwriters were granted a 30-day option to buy up to about 3.9 million additional shares from SFDS UK.

Last week, the Smithfield, Va., packaged-foods company had estimated it would offer 34.8 million shares priced at between $23 and $27 apiece.

The IPO marks a return to the stock market for a company that became a subsidiary of WH Group in 2013 in a $4.7 billion deal.

After the IPO, WH Group will own about 91.2% of Smithfield shares, or about 89.9% if the underwriters fully exercise their purchase option.

Write to Sarina Isaacs at sarina.isaacs@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2025 13:35 ET (18:35 GMT)

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