NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of chicken producer Pilgrim's Pride  (PPC) - Get Report plunged 6.54% to $24.80 in morning trading Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a suspected case of avian influenza, aka bird flu, in poultry in Arkansas.

Arkansas is the third-largest U.S. producer of turkey and the home state of Tyson Foods  (TSN) - Get Report, the largest chicken company in the nation.

"There is a suspect case in Arkansas, but testing is ongoing," USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole told Reuters.

If confirmed, the bird flu infection could lead to more trading restrictions from nations such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Nicaragua that have already limited U.S. poultry exports thanks to bird flu outbreaks in other states, including Minnesota, Missouri, and California.

Arkansas producers have been on guard for a potential bird flu outbreak since Minnesota and Missouri confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic virus in the last week. The Minnesota outbreak was the first case in the Mississippi flyway, a migratory route along the Mississippi River that includes Missouri and Arkansas, Reuters notes.

The H5N2 virus has not been identified in humans and is not expected to pose a public health risk, according to the USDA.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP (PPC) a BUY. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth and compelling growth in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 9.8%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 3.1%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
• PPC's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.00 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.30, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• Investors have apparently begun to recognize positive factors similar to those we have mentioned in this report, including earnings growth. This has helped drive up the company's shares by a sharp 49.45% over the past year, a rise that has exceeded that of the S&P 500 Index. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, PPC should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP has improved earnings per share by 16.4% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP increased its bottom line by earning $2.74 versus $2.12 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.13 versus $2.74).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has exceeded that of the S&P 500 and greatly outperformed compared to the Food Products industry average. The net income increased by 16.6% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $143.35 million to $167.19 million.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: PPC Ratings Report