Analysts Set Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target at $44.33

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.6667.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PPC. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 82.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,248.5% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 917 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC opened at $36.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.71. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12 month low of $34.39 and a 12 month high of $56.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 35.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.