Pilgrim’s Pride’s (PPC) Equal Weight Rating Reaffirmed at Barclays

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by Barclays in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $38.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $35.00. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 7.71% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. 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 boosted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $35.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $19.96 and a 12-month high of $36.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.41.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.49) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 19.3% during the first 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 acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the first quarter worth $360,000. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 28.8% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 23,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,000 after acquiring an additional 5,208 shares in the last quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 173.9% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 45,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 28,749 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,968,000 after purchasing an additional 190,770 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.