Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.67.

PPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim's Pride

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

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim's Pride stock traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $45.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,283,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,275,918. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Pilgrim's Pride has a 52 week low of $38.78 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.66 and a 200-day moving average of $49.07. The firm has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 0.45.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 36.95%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Pilgrim's Pride

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.