Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Crosses Above Fifty Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Pilgrim’s Pride shares rose above their 50-day moving average, trading as high as $29.13 and last at $29.01, compared with the average of $28.87.
• Quarterly EPS of $0.49 missed analysts’ $0.56 estimate, while revenue of $4.65 billion slightly beat expectations. Revenue declined 2.2% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with a consensus price target of $34.67; Barclays lowered its target to $40 while maintaining an Overweight rating.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.87 and traded as high as $29.13. Pilgrim's Pride shares last traded at $29.01, with a volume of 1,134,951 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.67.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $28.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.35.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $4.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.63 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.75%. Pilgrim's Pride's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim's Pride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,122,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim's Pride during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,749,000. Carrhae Capital LLP bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,185,000. PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,771,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the second quarter worth $138,936,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is a food company that produces, processes and distributes poultry and prepared foods. Its product portfolio includes fresh, frozen and ready-to-eat chicken products, as well as foodservice, retail and convenience offerings sold under brands such as Pilgrim's, Just Bare, Gold'n Plump and Del Dia.

Founded in 1946, the company has grown from a regional poultry business into an international food producer. Pilgrim's Pride serves grocery retailers, restaurants, foodservice distributors and other commercial customers across the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom and Europe.

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.