Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Pilgrim's Pride has been upgraded from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating increased confidence in the stock's performance.
• Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage of Pilgrim's Pride with a "neutral" rating and a target price of $50.00, amid a current average rating of "Hold" from five analysts.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings with $1.70 EPS, surpassing the estimate of $1.54, and recorded a revenue of $4.76 billion, exceeding analyst expectations.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Down 0.1%

PPC opened at $44.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 0.50. Pilgrim's Pride has a 52 week low of $40.09 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The business's 50 day moving average is $46.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 6.81%.The firm's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim's Pride

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 0.4% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,216,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 15.7% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.3% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 18.2% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 0.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,072,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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