Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Raised to Hold at UBS Group

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) was upgraded by UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PPC. Stephens set a $40.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.20.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $28.65 on Monday. 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 has a 52 week low of $27.13 and a 52 week high of $51.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 205.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 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.