Short Interest in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Increases By 20.2%

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, an increase of 20.2% from the March 31st total of 1,780,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 686,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC opened at $36.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.14. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12 month low of $19.96 and a 12 month high of $36.47.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.49) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price 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, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the sale, 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. Company insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

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.