Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.80.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, August 12th. Argus increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

PPC stock opened at $40.37 on Friday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $22.33 and a 1 year high of $47.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 25.06% and a net margin of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,440,642.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,440,642.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 102.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.