Pilgrim’s Pride Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:PPC)

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 3,289 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 481% compared to the typical daily volume of 566 put options.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $41.77 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.18. Pilgrim’s Pride has a fifty-two week low of $22.33 and a fifty-two week high of $47.44. The firm has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pilgrim’s Pride

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

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ariadne Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 2nd quarter worth $1,035,000. Creative Planning increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 16.8% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 74,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,874,000 after buying an additional 10,722 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.80.

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.