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

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.00.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 3.2%

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $38.80 on Friday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $35.73 and a 1 year high of $57.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.80 and its 200-day moving average is $43.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.48.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 37.75%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.7% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.2% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Kendall Capital Management lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.3% in the third quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.