Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) PT Raised to $40.00 at Bank of America

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

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

PPC stock opened at $35.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12 month low of $19.96 and a 12 month high of $36.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.46.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during 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%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.49) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pilgrim’s Pride

In related 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 directly owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,857,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,861,000 after purchasing an additional 250,383 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,464,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,067,000 after purchasing an additional 401,749 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,691,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,097,000 after buying an additional 72,446 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,050,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,510,000 after buying an additional 490,356 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,319,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,583,000 after buying an additional 20,853 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.