Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

PPC has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

PPC stock opened at $43.48 on Friday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $35.73 and a 1 year high of $56.88. The company has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.02 and a 200 day moving average of $41.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,248.5% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,522.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.