Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.3333.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PPC shares. Santander upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, December 9th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

PPC stock opened at $40.99 on Tuesday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a one year low of $35.73 and a one year high of $56.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 35.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barings LLC bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at about $1,335,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,858,000. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 3rd quarter worth about $934,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 3rd quarter worth about $814,000. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,609,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

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.