Brokerages Set Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target at $46.33

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.3333.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 0.8%

PPC stock opened at $38.78 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.80. Pilgrim’s Pride has a fifty-two week low of $35.73 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. The firm has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,776,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,251 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at $26,501,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 138.7% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 958,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,022,000 after purchasing an additional 556,766 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 654.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 631,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,708,000 after buying an additional 547,663 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,993,000 after buying an additional 516,598 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.