Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $25.90 and last traded at $26.4680, with a volume of 54749 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.29.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 2.95 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 205.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.