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

Barclays reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $38.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PPC. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday. 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 report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $35.55 on Tuesday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $19.96 and a 1 year high of $36.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.67 and a 200-day moving average of $28.46. 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 $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.49) earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 82.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 107.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 63.5% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors 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.