Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Barclays

Barclays reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Barclays currently has a $38.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $35.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $36.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $35.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.68. Pilgrim’s Pride has a fifty-two week low of $19.96 and a fifty-two week high of $36.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.36.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.49) EPS. Analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $1,332,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 82.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 213.6% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,234,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,145,000 after purchasing an additional 840,850 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,160,000 after acquiring an additional 830,555 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 244.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 694,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,925,000 after acquiring an additional 492,934 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,050,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,510,000 after acquiring an additional 490,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 71.0% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,077,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,034,000 after acquiring an additional 447,019 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.