Pilgrim’s Pride Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:PPC)

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 6,603 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 2,874% compared to the typical daily volume of 222 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during 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 period. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.4% during 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 period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.5% during 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 period. Kendall Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.3% during 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 period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.1% during 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 period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.75. The stock had a trading volume of 817,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,098,601. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12 month low of $27.13 and a 12 month high of $50.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.18). Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 28.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.