Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Barclays

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by Barclays in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $38.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $35.00. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.25% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 0.8 %

PPC stock opened at $35.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Pilgrim’s Pride has a twelve month low of $19.96 and a twelve month high of $36.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.27.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.49) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $1,332,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 82.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the first quarter valued at about $360,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 28.8% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 23,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 5,208 shares during the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 173.9% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 45,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after buying an additional 28,749 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after buying an additional 190,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.