Smithfield Foods ( NASDAQ: SFD) opened for trading at $21.05 before settling back to $20.18 at 12:50 p.m. The early trading values the food processing giant at just over $8.0 billion.

Smithfield Foods' CEO Shane Smith says he hopes that everything the company has done to make working in its plants more attractive ever since COVID tore through the industry during the pandemic will help it weather the impact of President Donald Trump’s promised mass deportations.

Smithfield Foods launched its initial public offering of stock this Tuesday (Jan. 28), selling 26 million shares at $20 each – that’s below the $23 to $27 range the company estimated last week, also below the nearly 35 million shares first envisioned. Still, that pockets $261 million each for it and its Chinese owner, WH Group.

Smithfield Foods ( SFD, Financials) launched its IPO on Tuesday, starting trading at $21.05 before falling to $20.18 by midday. On Wednesday, shares were priced at $19.29 as of 3:34:43 PM EST, reflecting a 3.5% drop from the previous close.

Listen to this article Smithfield Foods officials rang the opening bell Tuesday at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, as the packaged meat and fresh pork giant launched its initial public offering of 26 million stock shares at $20 per share on the Nasdaq Global Select Market,

US pork processor Smithfield Foods is seeking to raise as much as about $940m in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

Smithfield Foods ( SFD) began its roadshow on Tuesday for an underwritten initial public offering of 34,800,000 shares of its common stock. The initial public offering price is expected to be between $23.00 and $27.00 per share. The range values the Virginia-based company at $10.7 billion at the high point.

(Reuters) -- Smithfield Foods was valued at $7.7 billion after its shares fell 3.2% on Tuesday, in a muted debut that might prompt other IPO candidates to tread cautiously.

Listen to this article Hasbro board chair and the toymaker’s former interim CEO Richard S. Stoddart will join the Altria Group board of directors Monday, the Henrico County-based, Fortune 500 tobacco manufacturer announced Thursday.

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This story incorporates reporting from Virginia Business, Investopedia on MSN.com and MSN.Smithfield Foods successfully raised $522 million through its initial public offering listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.