Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (PPC) - What Are Brokerages Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts hold a consensus “Hold” rating on Pilgrim’s Pride, with five holds, two buys and one sell among eight firms. The average 12-month price target is $34.67, while recent targets include $40 from Barclays and $31 from BMO Capital Markets.
• Pilgrim’s Pride reported quarterly EPS of $0.49, below the $0.56 consensus, while revenue of $4.65 billion slightly exceeded estimates. Revenue fell 2.2% year over year, and EPS declined sharply from $1.52 in the prior-year quarter.
• The stock opened at $28.72, near the lower end of its 12-month range of $25.00 to $44.84, with a market capitalization of approximately $6.84 billion. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s shares.

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.67.

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPC. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

PPC opened at $28.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Pilgrim's Pride has a 12 month low of $25.00 and a 12 month high of $44.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 0.31.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.07). Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $4.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim's Pride

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 70.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride during the third quarter worth about $244,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 124.0% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 6.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,061 shares of the company's stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the third quarter valued at approximately $624,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is a food company that produces, processes and distributes poultry and prepared foods. Its product portfolio includes fresh, frozen and ready-to-eat chicken products, as well as foodservice, retail and convenience offerings sold under brands such as Pilgrim's, Just Bare, Gold'n Plump and Del Dia.

Founded in 1946, the company has grown from a regional poultry business into an international food producer. Pilgrim's Pride serves grocery retailers, restaurants, foodservice distributors and other commercial customers across the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom and Europe.

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