Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Hits New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Pilgrim’s Pride shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $25.90 and recently around $26.47. The stock is below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts maintain an overall “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $36.50. Recent target cuts include UBS to $28 and Bank of America to $30, although Barclays upgraded the stock to “Overweight.”
• The company’s latest quarter fell short of expectations: adjusted earnings were $0.64 per share versus $0.70 expected, while revenue declined 2.8% year over year to $4.63 billion.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $25.90 and last traded at $26.4680, with a volume of 54749 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on PPC shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Stephens set a $40.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.50.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Down 0.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.69.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.06). Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 21.70%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim's Pride

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 205.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Pilgrim's Pride

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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