Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target Lowered to $40.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its target price lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on PPC. 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Santander upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.67.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

PPC opened at $35.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.41. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $34.39 and a 12-month high of $56.73.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,977,597.44. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 82.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,248.5% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,522.6% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.