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

Key Points

• Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) has an average analyst recommendation of Hold from six covering firms (1 sell, 4 hold, 1 buy) with a 12‑month average price target of $41.33.
• The stock opened at $35.09 (market cap $8.35B, PE 7.73) and the company reported quarterly EPS of $0.64, missing estimates of $0.78 while revenue beat at $4.52B; sell‑side analysts project $5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• CFO Matthew Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares and insiders own 82.23% of the company, while institutional ownership is 16.64% and several large funds (including Goldman and Millennium) recently increased their positions.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.3333.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Zacks Research downgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Down 1.5%

PPC stock opened at $35.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.21. Pilgrim's Pride has a 52 week low of $34.39 and a 52 week high of $55.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 35.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pilgrim's Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,397 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,977,597.44. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 82.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim's Pride

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 6.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 100,493 shares of the company's stock worth $5,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,950 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 136.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,881 shares of the company's stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 180.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company's stock worth $18,685,000 after purchasing an additional 220,673 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 15.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company's stock worth $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 166,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company's stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pilgrim's Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim's Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company's vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.

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