Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (PPC) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.50.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $28.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.05. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $25.00 and a 52 week high of $44.84.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.06). Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 21.70% and a net margin of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 205.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 36,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) is a food company that produces, processes, markets and distributes a broad range of poultry and prepared food products. Its offerings include fresh and frozen chicken, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products, deli items, snacks, and other value-added foods sold to retailers, foodservice operators and industrial customers.

The company markets products under brands that include Pilgrim’s, Just Bare, Gold’n Plump, Moy Park and Pilgrim’s Food Masters, along with private-label products.