Pilgrims Pride Corp. Stock Downgraded (PPC)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Pilgrims Pride Corp (NYSE:PPC) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself, feeble growth in its earnings per share, deteriorating net income, generally weak debt management and disappointing return on equity.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Food Products industry and the overall market on the basis of return on equity, PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP underperformed against that of the industry average and is significantly less than that of the S&P 500.
• Currently the debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53 is quite high overall and when compared to the industry average, suggesting that the current management of debt levels should be re-evaluated. Along with the unfavorable debt-to-equity ratio, PPC maintains a poor quick ratio of 0.80, which illustrates the inability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Food Products industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 165.1% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from -$45.55 million to -$120.76 million.
• PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP has exprienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. Earnings per share have declined over the last year. We anticipate that this should continue in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP reported lower earnings of $0.41 versus $1.44 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 295.1% in earnings (-$0.80 versus $0.41).
• Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 44.01%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 166.66% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Despite the heavy decline in its share price, this stock is still more expensive (when compared to its current earnings) than most other companies in its industry.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces poultry products in the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The company has a P/E ratio of 73.8, equal to the average food & beverage industry P/E ratio and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Pilgrims Pride has a market cap of $950.2 million and is part of the consumer goods sector and food & beverage industry. Shares are down 40.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

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