BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential downside of 3.05% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Santander raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC opened at $43.32 on Friday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $35.73 and a 1 year high of $57.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $40.81 and its 200-day moving average is $41.26. The company has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 0.43.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 6.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 100,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,950 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 136.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 180.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,685,000 after buying an additional 220,673 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after buying an additional 166,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 10,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Pilgrim’s Pride

Here are the key news stories impacting Pilgrim’s Pride this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and branded growth beat expectations — Q4 net sales rose ~3.3% y/y and topped estimates, driven by a strong U.S. Prepared Foods business (Just Bare® momentum) and improved European performance; Pilgrim’s also returned $2 billion to shareholders. Pilgrim’s Pride Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Solid full‑year cash generation and leverage — FY2025 GAAP net income ~$1.1B and adjusted EBITDA ~ $2.27B, with net leverage below ~1.1x, which supports liquidity and shareholder returns. Quiver Quant: Pilgrim’s Pride Announces 2025 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst target modestly adjusted — BMO raised its price target from $40 to $42 and kept a “market perform” rating (target still implies limited upside/downside near current levels). The Fly: BMO raises PPC price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary and slide deck are available — the earnings call/transcript and presentation give detail on segment mix, cost actions and outlook (useful for modeling near‑term margin recovery scenarios). Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 earnings missed consensus — reported EPS under consensus (the company reported a lower Q4 EPS vs. the ~$0.78 consensus), and adjusted EBITDA declined y/y in the quarter, signaling margin pressure. That miss is the proximate reason for investor concern. Zacks: Q4 results lag estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Margin compression and regional headwinds — analysts and deep‑dive coverage point to commodity cost volatility and weak Mexico margins (imports and live commodity market issues), increasing near‑term profit risk; Zacks also downgraded the stock to “strong sell.” MSN deep dive: Margin compression Zacks: PPC downgraded

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.