Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) PT Raised to $36.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.27% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on PPC. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $35.55 on Wednesday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $19.96 and a 12-month high of $36.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.46.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.48 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.49) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 82.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 213.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 840,850 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,160,000 after acquiring an additional 830,555 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 244.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 694,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,925,000 after acquiring an additional 492,934 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $48,510,000 after purchasing an additional 490,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $27,034,000 after purchasing an additional 447,019 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.