Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Sets New 52-Week High at $37.50

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $37.50 and last traded at $37.59, with a volume of 98969 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PPC shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.60 and a 200-day moving average of $29.69.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.17. 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 82.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.7% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.2% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 30,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 35,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

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.