Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Price Target Increased to $36.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) had its price target increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 2.04% from the stock’s previous close.

PPC has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 0.8 %

PPC stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.28. The stock had a trading volume of 598,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 684,395. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 1-year low of $19.96 and a 1-year high of $36.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.36.

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

Insider Transactions at Pilgrim’s Pride

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

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 284.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 50,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 37,215 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the first quarter valued at approximately $441,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 30.1% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the first quarter valued at approximately $551,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 37.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 32,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 8,745 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.