Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $27.13 and last traded at $28.1630, with a volume of 32902 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.01. The company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 4.78%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.3% in the third quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.