Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) PT Raised to $40.00

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 0.8 %

PPC stock opened at $35.28 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $19.96 and a 1-year high of $36.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.41. The firm 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 released its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 213.6% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,234,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,145,000 after acquiring an additional 840,850 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,160,000 after purchasing an additional 830,555 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 244.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 694,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,925,000 after purchasing an additional 492,934 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,050,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,510,000 after purchasing an additional 490,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 71.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,077,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,034,000 after purchasing an additional 447,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

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.