Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.25.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Stephens set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,977,597.44. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 82.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 6.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 100,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 5,950 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 136.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 180.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,685,000 after acquiring an additional 220,673 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after acquiring an additional 166,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised 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 acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $29.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.33. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $29.09 and a 1 year high of $51.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 4.78%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current 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.