Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Price Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)’s share price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.65 and traded as high as $43.70. Pilgrim’s Pride shares last traded at $43.06, with a volume of 669,603 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on 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. Zacks Research upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.11. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 6.70%.The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 10.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,993,000 after buying an additional 516,598 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,482,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,512,000 after acquiring an additional 705,946 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,676,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,965,000 after acquiring an additional 423,690 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,171,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,689,000 after acquiring an additional 404,915 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 21.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.