Stephens Initiates Coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC)

Stock analysts at Stephens began coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential downside of 3.59% from the company’s previous close.

PPC has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Argus raised their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of PPC opened at $44.60 on Thursday. Pilgrim’s Pride has a fifty-two week low of $22.92 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The company has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 25.06%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total value of $281,515.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 82.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Ariadne Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the second quarter worth about $94,000. Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the second quarter worth about $1,035,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, 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 refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.