Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PPC. Barclays lowered 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 research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Santander raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ PPC opened at $43.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $35.73 and a 1 year high of $57.16. The company has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.21.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories 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

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.