Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Share Price Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)’s share price crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.65 and traded as high as $43.70. Pilgrim’s Pride shares last traded at $43.06, with a volume of 669,603 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Santander raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.43.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 6.70%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.4% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kendall Capital Management grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 6,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

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.