Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.25.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $35.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.80. The firm has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim’s Pride has a twelve month low of $19.96 and a twelve month high of $36.47.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.49) EPS. Analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,160,000 after purchasing an additional 830,555 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $7,856,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,968,000 after purchasing an additional 190,770 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $5,131,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $5,024,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.