Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives $45.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.50.

PPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus increased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 325.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 55,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after buying an additional 42,136 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 31.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 10,489 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter valued at about $141,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 3rd quarter worth about $808,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,860,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

PPC stock opened at $46.30 on Monday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a twelve month low of $26.52 and a twelve month high of $55.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.68 and its 200-day moving average is $44.51.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 29.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.