Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives $36.25 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.25.

PPC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 107.7% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $35.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.55. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $19.96 and a 1 year high of $36.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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