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

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $25.53 and last traded at $25.6140, with a volume of 607587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PPC. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.47. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 0.27.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.06). Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 21.70% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the second quarter worth about $30,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 205.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) is a food company that produces, processes, markets and distributes a broad range of poultry and prepared food products. Its offerings include fresh and frozen chicken, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products, deli items, snacks, and other value-added foods sold to retailers, foodservice operators and industrial customers.

The company markets products under brands that include Pilgrim’s, Just Bare, Gold’n Plump, Moy Park and Pilgrim’s Food Masters, along with private-label products.