Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PPC. Santander began coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.67.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.08. The stock had a trading volume of 977,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,225,944. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.46. Pilgrim's Pride has a one year low of $36.52 and a one year high of $57.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim's Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 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 worth $232,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,965 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 worth $158,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,549 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 25.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,370,927 shares of the company's stock worth $128,599,000 after buying an additional 487,219 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,766,000 after buying an additional 389,967 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings 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 valued at $62,513,000 after buying an additional 180,164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.