Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) PT Raised to $36.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its price objective raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PPC. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on 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 increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. TheStreet upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays restated an equal weight rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of PPC opened at $35.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $19.96 and a 1 year high of $36.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.41. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.49) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 221,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,593,000 after buying an additional 35,859 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 1st quarter worth $360,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 23,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 5,208 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 173.9% during the 1st quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 45,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after buying an additional 28,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,968,000 after buying an additional 190,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

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.