Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PPC traded down $0.24 during trading on Thursday, reaching $35.15. The stock had a trading volume of 479,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 671,761. Pilgrim’s Pride has a one year low of $19.96 and a one year high of $36.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.27.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PPC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

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.