Pilgrim’s Pride’s (PPC) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Barclays

Barclays reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $38.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $35.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. TheStreet raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

PPC stock opened at $35.77 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.84 and a 200-day moving average of $28.55. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $19.96 and a 12-month high of $36.15. The firm has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.49) earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $1,332,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 82.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 213.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,234,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,145,000 after purchasing an additional 840,850 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,160,000 after purchasing an additional 830,555 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 244.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 694,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,925,000 after purchasing an additional 492,934 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,050,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,510,000 after purchasing an additional 490,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 71.0% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,077,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,034,000 after purchasing an additional 447,019 shares in 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.