Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.50.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 12.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,830,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,617,000 after purchasing an additional 411,656 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 2nd quarter worth about $138,936,000. Carrhae Capital LLP acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 2nd quarter worth about $52,185,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,237,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,746,000 after buying an additional 38,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 724.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,365,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,375,000 after buying an additional 1,199,625 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $28.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.96. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $25.00 and a 1 year high of $44.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.06). Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 21.70%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) is a food company that produces, processes, markets and distributes a broad range of poultry and prepared food products. Its offerings include fresh and frozen chicken, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products, deli items, snacks, and other value-added foods sold to retailers, foodservice operators and industrial customers.

The company markets products under brands that include Pilgrim’s, Just Bare, Gold’n Plump, Moy Park and Pilgrim’s Food Masters, along with private-label products.