Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Reaches New 52-Week High at $36.47

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $36.47 and last traded at $36.15, with a volume of 171965 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PPC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.62.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.49) earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,160,000 after purchasing an additional 830,555 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $7,856,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,968,000 after purchasing an additional 190,770 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $5,131,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $5,024,000. 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.