Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.20.

PPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens set a $40.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ PPC opened at $29.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.03. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $27.13 and a 52 week high of $50.56.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 4.78%.The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PPC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,776,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,251 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,196.4% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 813,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,731,000 after purchasing an additional 751,042 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,418,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,296,000 after acquiring an additional 742,204 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,501,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 138.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 958,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,022,000 after acquiring an additional 556,766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.