Wall Street Zen Downgrades Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) to Buy

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Santander began coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.40.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $49.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 0.51. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $33.70 and a 12-month high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,965 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,903,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,261,000 after acquiring an additional 29,549 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,370,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,599,000 after acquiring an additional 487,219 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,766,000 after acquiring an additional 389,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,513,000 after acquiring an additional 180,164 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.