Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Hits New 1-Year High at $47.59

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $47.59 and last traded at $47.57, with a volume of 663344 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Argus upped their target price on shares of 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 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.80.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 4.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.79.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 25.06% and a net margin of 4.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,892,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at $12,440,642.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,440,642.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total value of $281,515.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 102.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.