Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

PPC has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $43.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.26. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1-year low of $35.73 and a 1-year high of $57.16. The firm has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $176,000. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 104,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,073,000 after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 472,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,425,000 after buying an additional 18,485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

More Pilgrim’s Pride News

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.