Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PPC. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC opened at $53.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.91. Pilgrim’s Pride has a twelve month low of $27.99 and a twelve month high of $57.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,289.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,225,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,621,000 after buying an additional 4,849,147 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 903.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,455,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,026,000 after buying an additional 1,310,530 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,116,000 after buying an additional 827,134 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,883,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,502,000 after buying an additional 576,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 203,408 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.