Analysts Set Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target at $48.40

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.40.

PPC has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Santander assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,119,000 after buying an additional 33,965 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,883,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,502,000 after purchasing an additional 576,438 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,513,000 after purchasing an additional 180,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,125,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,079,000 after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ PPC opened at $46.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.01. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.03 and a 200 day moving average of $50.13. Pilgrim’s Pride has a one year low of $33.70 and a one year high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% 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.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $6.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.