Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $55.34 and last traded at $53.85, with a volume of 4251 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stephens started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Argus lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.13.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 29.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,233,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,310,000 after buying an additional 136,970 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,116,000 after acquiring an additional 827,134 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,320,000 after acquiring an additional 501,776 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 635,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,450,000 after purchasing an additional 91,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 88.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,981,000 after purchasing an additional 203,408 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.