Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

PPC has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC opened at $38.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $35.73 and a 12-month high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 37.75%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,993,000 after acquiring an additional 516,598 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,482,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,512,000 after purchasing an additional 705,946 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,903,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,549 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 22.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,171,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,689,000 after purchasing an additional 404,915 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 21.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,584,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,282,000 after purchasing an additional 280,745 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.