The Goldman Sachs Group Boosts Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target to $36.00

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PPC. TheStreet raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

PPC opened at $35.77 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.55. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1 year low of $19.96 and a 1 year high of $36.15. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.49) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 82.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 18,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 30,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 30.1% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.9% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 26,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 63.5% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. 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.