Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

PPC traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.28. 910,096 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 599,614. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.77. Pilgrim’s Pride has a one year low of $19.96 and a one year high of $36.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on PPC. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. TheStreet raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.25.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $1,332,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 82.63% 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.