Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives $41.33 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens set a $40.00 target price on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,977,597.44. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 82.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings 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 valued at $5,479,000 after buying an additional 5,950 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 136.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 180.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,685,000 after acquiring an additional 220,673 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $67,758,000 after acquiring an additional 166,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.8%

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $33.91 on Wednesday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $32.79 and a 52 week high of $55.18. The stock has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 0.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.09. 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 quarterly 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 company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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.