BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Price

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its price objective raised by BMO Capital Markets from $42.00 to $43.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the stock.

PPC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 3.6 %

Pilgrim’s Pride stock traded up $1.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.17. 1,827,521 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 902,916. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.66. The company has a market capitalization of $11.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52-week low of $25.23 and a 52-week high of $51.21.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 31.38%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,440,642.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,292.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 82.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,116,000 after buying an additional 827,134 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,320,000 after acquiring an additional 501,776 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 88.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,981,000 after acquiring an additional 203,408 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the first quarter worth about $6,515,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,233,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,310,000 after purchasing an additional 136,970 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.