Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on PPC. Santander upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC stock opened at $43.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 0.43. Pilgrim’s Pride has a one year low of $35.73 and a one year high of $57.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,306,000 after purchasing an additional 131,482 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,482,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,512,000 after buying an additional 705,946 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,676,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,965,000 after buying an additional 423,690 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,171,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,689,000 after buying an additional 404,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,584,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,282,000 after acquiring an additional 280,745 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.