Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on PPC. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.28. 910,094 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 685,719. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $19.96 and a 1 year high of $36.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.77.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.17. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 82.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.