Analysts Set Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) PT at $44.33

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.3333.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective 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.

Insider Transactions at Pilgrim’s Pride

In related news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at $3,977,597.44. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 82.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at about $1,858,000. Barings LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at about $1,335,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 163.4% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 117,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,796,000 after purchasing an additional 73,068 shares during the period. Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 3,257.0% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 29,313 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 10.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,993,000 after purchasing an additional 516,598 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $34.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.12 and its 200 day moving average is $39.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.41. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1-year low of $34.72 and a 1-year high of $56.73. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.