Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Hits New 52-Week High at $34.70

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $34.70 and last traded at $34.64, with a volume of 13259 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.49) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 82.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 213.6% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,234,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,145,000 after buying an additional 840,850 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,160,000 after purchasing an additional 830,555 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 244.5% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 694,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,925,000 after acquiring an additional 492,934 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,050,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,510,000 after acquiring an additional 490,356 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 71.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,077,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,034,000 after acquiring an additional 447,019 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by 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.