Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Price

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $45.00 to $49.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on PPC. Bank of America cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ PPC traded up $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.17. 1,827,521 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,916. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $25.23 and a 1 year high of $51.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.36. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total value of $281,515.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,292.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,892,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 82.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,233,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,310,000 after purchasing an additional 136,970 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,116,000 after purchasing an additional 827,134 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,320,000 after purchasing an additional 501,776 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 635,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,450,000 after acquiring an additional 91,127 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 88.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,981,000 after acquiring an additional 203,408 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.