Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives $48.67 Average PT from Brokerages

Key Points

• Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from seven brokerages, with six analysts rating it as a hold and one as a buy.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed $1.70 earnings per share, exceeding the analysts' expectations of $1.54, while revenue reached $4.76 billion.
• Large institutional investors have recently increased their holdings in Pilgrim's Pride, with Allspring Global Investments raising its stake by 18.2% in the first quarter.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.6667.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PPC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $50.11. The company had a trading volume of 58,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,312. The firm has a market cap of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Pilgrim's Pride has a twelve month low of $40.09 and a twelve month high of $57.16.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 6.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim's Pride

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company's stock worth $2,216,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 18.2% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,072,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 2.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.