Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $26.41 and last traded at $26.3750, with a volume of 316781 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays raised Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens set a $40.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.10.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 21.70% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 352.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 33.0% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 127,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after purchasing an additional 31,580 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the first quarter valued at $1,051,000. Strategic Investment Advisors MI acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter valued at about $437,000. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 68.7% in the first quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 111,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,199,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.