Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 29.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter worth $27,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter worth $29,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the second quarter worth $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.