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 during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 29.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.