Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) PT Raised to $40.00

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its target price raised by Barclays from $38.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Argus increased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $40.60.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $41.06 on Thursday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $22.33 and a 52 week high of $41.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.78.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.17. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 2.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.08 earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,299,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,939,000 after buying an additional 328,660 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,856,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after purchasing an additional 190,770 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter valued at about $6,515,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,024,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

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.