Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) hits new 52-week high after analyst update

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC – Get Your Free Report ) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday, after Argus increased their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $55.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Pilgrim’s Pride traded as high as $46.30 and last traded at $45.60 with a volume of 68187 shares. Shares previously closed at $45.69.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on PPC. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Pilgrim’s Pride currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.40, according to MarketBeat .

Check out our latest research report on Pilgrim’s Pride

Insider buying and selling at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,292.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available via this hyperlink. In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,892,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible via this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 82.63% of shares are currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional inputs and outputs

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,320,000 after purchasing an additional 501,776 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,856,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,968,000 after buying an additional 190,770 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 1st quarter worth about $6,515,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,024,000. 16.64% of the shares are currently held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride trading up 1.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01, and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.18 and a two hundred day moving average price of $36.72.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 25.06% and a net margin of 4.25%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted EPS of $0.44. On average, research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

(Get a free report)

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation manufactures, processes, markets and distributes fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products including whole or cut chilled chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or unmarinated, prime cuts of pork, value-added pork and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and meatballs, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meats, gammon joints, prepackaged meats, sandwich and deli meats and patties.

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