Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.40.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Santander initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,965 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,903,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,549 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 25.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,370,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $128,599,000 after purchasing an additional 487,219 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PPC remained flat at $45.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 1,390,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,332. 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 twelve month low of $35.57 and a twelve month high of $57.16. The firm has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50-day moving average is $49.34 and its 200 day moving average is $49.56.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 36.95% and a net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

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.