Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives $48.40 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment 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 analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.40.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Santander assumed coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Down 1.0%

PPC traded down $0.46 on Thursday, hitting $45.44. 1,824,879 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,226,941. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.48. Pilgrim's Pride has a 12 month low of $36.52 and a 12 month high of $57.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim's Pride

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 0.7% in the fourth 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.0% in the first 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $128,599,000 after acquiring an additional 487,219 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $83,766,000 after acquiring an additional 389,967 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 15.1% in the fourth 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 period. 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.