Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target Lowered to $39.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its target price cut by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $44.00 to $39.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.78% from the company’s previous close.

PPC has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. Santander upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ:PPC traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $35.85. 313,900 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 954,264. The stock has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12 month low of $34.39 and a 12 month high of $55.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.87 and a 200 day moving average of $39.37.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at $3,977,597.44. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 82.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.3% in the third quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.