Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives $45.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PPC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus raised their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC opened at $51.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.84. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12 month low of $25.33 and a 12 month high of $55.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 29.92%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,289.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,225,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,621,000 after acquiring an additional 4,849,147 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 903.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,455,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,530 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,116,000 after purchasing an additional 827,134 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,320,000 after buying an additional 501,776 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 88.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,981,000 after buying an additional 203,408 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.