BMO Capital Markets Cuts Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target to $40.00

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its target price decreased by BMO Capital Markets from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $36.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $8.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.71. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $34.39 and a 52 week high of $56.73.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 35.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,977,597.44. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 82.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth $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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the period. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.