Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target Lowered to $39.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group cut Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) price target from $44 to $39 and maintained a "neutral" rating, implying about an 8.8% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but the consensus is a "Hold" with a consensus target of $41.33 after several downgrades and at least one upgrade.
• PPC shares traded near $35.85; the company has a P/E of 7.9 and $8.52B market cap, recently posted an EPS miss ($0.64 vs. $0.78) while revenue beat estimates, and disclosed a CFO share sale.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $44.00 to $39.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price points to a potential upside of 8.78% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Santander upgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.33.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PPC traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $35.85. 313,900 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 954,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's 50 day moving average is $39.87 and its 200 day moving average is $39.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.46. Pilgrim's Pride has a one year low of $34.39 and a one year high of $55.18.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.Pilgrim's Pride's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,977,597.44. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 82.56% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim's Pride

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1,248.5% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 917 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.