Brokerages Set Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Target Price at $47.67

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.6667.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.7% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.2% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of PPC opened at $37.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 0.45. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $36.90 and a 12-month high of $57.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 37.15%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.