Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the four research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com 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 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.25.

Several research firms have issued reports on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th.

Insider Activity 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 on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 1st quarter worth $2,462,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 238,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,190,000 after buying an additional 1,647 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 221,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,593,000 after buying an additional 35,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 1st quarter worth $360,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC opened at $35.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.68. Pilgrim’s Pride has a one year low of $19.96 and a one year high of $36.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.80.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.49) EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.