Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Key Points

• Pilgrim’s Pride reported quarterly EPS of $0.49, missing analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.07. The company posted a 21.70% return on equity and a 2.96% net margin.
• Shares fell $0.71 to $26.38 following the results, near the stock’s 52-week low of $25.00. The stock has declined below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $36.50 average price target; Bank of America recently cut its target to $30.00.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 21.70% and a net margin of 2.96%.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $26.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 799,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,156. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.72. Pilgrim's Pride has a 52-week low of $25.00 and a 52-week high of $44.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.50.

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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