Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Barclays

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by research analysts at Barclays in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $38.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $35.00. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.71% from the company’s previous close.

PPC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $35.28 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.41. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $19.96 and a 52 week high of $36.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.49) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 18,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 30,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently 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.