Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.25.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Stephens set a $40.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 1.0%

PPC opened at $27.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.57 and its 200-day moving average is $38.15. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52-week low of $27.32 and a 52-week high of $51.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 28.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,977,597.44. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 82.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,306,000 after purchasing an additional 131,482 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,482,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,512,000 after purchasing an additional 705,946 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 12.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,830,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,617,000 after purchasing an additional 411,656 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 22.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,171,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,689,000 after purchasing an additional 404,915 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,661,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,774,000 after purchasing an additional 108,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.