Analysts Set Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) PT at $36.25

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.25.

PPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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 report on Wednesday. TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.6 %

PPC stock opened at $35.77 on Wednesday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a twelve month low of $19.96 and a twelve month high of $36.15. The company has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.49) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 107.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.