Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $40.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Pilgrim’s Pride traded as low as $34.39 and last traded at $35.22, with a volume of 733784 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.97.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PPC. Wall Street Zen lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Santander upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,977,597.44. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 82.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,248.5% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,522.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 1.9%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.78 and a 200-day moving average of $39.76. The company has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a PE ratio of 7.95 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.