Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.40.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PPC. Santander began coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Up 1.1%

PPC traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $49.00. 1,088,942 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,194,109. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $50.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Pilgrim's Pride has a 52 week low of $33.70 and a 52 week high of $57.16.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $6.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim's Pride

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company's stock worth $232,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,965 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,903,586 shares of the company's stock worth $158,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,549 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 25.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,370,927 shares of the company's stock worth $128,599,000 after purchasing an additional 487,219 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company's stock worth $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company's stock worth $62,513,000 after purchasing an additional 180,164 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.