Bank of America Raises Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target to $42.00

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Bank of America from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.72% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Argus began coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $41.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.40.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

PPC traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $38.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 154,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,902. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $21.77 and a 52 week high of $39.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $36.62 and its 200-day moving average is $33.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.78.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.17. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 2.80%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 746.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.