Chicken is typically the go-to meat of choice during periods of inflations because it's generally lower cost than steaks and other meats. Sales and profits for chicken giant Pilgrims Pride have been outstanding this year, including a 144% pop in earnings per share last quarter on 27% sales growth. It's no surprise that on Tuesday, the IBD SmartSelect Composite Rating for Pilgrim's Pride stock rose to a near perfect 96, of a best-possible 99, as its stock climbed above its 50-day line.
The new score means the Greeley, Colo.-based company is now outperforming 96% of all stocks in terms of the most important fundamental and technical stock-picking criteria. The market's biggest winners often have a 95 or higher grade in the early stages of a new price run, so that's a good starting point when looking for the best stocks to buy and watch.
Pilgrim's Pride Stock Hops 50%-Plus In 5 Months
Pilgrim's Pride stock fell to a 20.25 low on March 8 amid the market's early 2022 pullback. From there it climbed about 54% to 31.16 at one point Tuesday afternoon, up about 3% for the day.
Pilgrims Pride stock is currently forming a consolidation, with a 34.76 buy point. See if the stock can break out in heavy trade at least 40% higher than normal.
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Among its other key ratings, Pilgrim's Price stock earns an 83 EPS Rating, which means its recent quarterly and longer-term annual earnings growth is outpacing 83% of all stocks.
Additionally, Pilgrim's Pride's Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C shows a roughly equal amount of buying and selling by institutional investors over the last 13 weeks.
Quarterly Profit Growth As High As 181%
In Q2, the poultry giant reported 144% EPS growth to $1.54 on 27% higher revenue, to $4.63 billion, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. The prior three quarters its EPS growth rate rose from 2% to 124% then 181%.
Pilgrims Pride holds the No. 2 rank among its peers in the Food-Meat Products industry group. Cal-Maine Foods is the No. 1-ranked stock in the group. Hormel Foods and Tyson Foods are also among the top five in the group.
