Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Receives $48.40 Average Target Price from Analysts

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

A number of analysts have commented on PPC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Santander started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 309.4% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the period. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $49.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.01. Pilgrim’s Pride has a fifty-two week low of $33.70 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.