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

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.60.

Several analysts recently weighed in on PPC shares. Argus upped their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 3,081 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth approximately $389,000. Wolf Group Capital Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 57,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 3,905 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2,666.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 44,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after buying an additional 43,243 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 237,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,555,000 after buying an additional 10,856 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $42.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.83. Pilgrim’s Pride has a fifty-two week low of $22.33 and a fifty-two week high of $44.62. The company has a market cap of $10.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.35.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.35. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 2.80%. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.