UPDATE: Imperial Capital Downgrades Pilgrim's Pride Corporation to In-Line, Lowers PT

In a report published Friday, Imperial Capital downgraded its rating on Pilgrim's Pride Corporation

from Outperform to In-Line, and lowered its price target from $9.00 to $5.00. Imperial Capital noted, “We are downgrading our rating on PPC common stock to In-Line from Outperform and reducing our one-year price target to $5 from $9 previously. While we anticipate investor sentiment in the stock will continue to be dominated by U.S. corn and soybean prices in the short-term, we think the company's vertically-integrated operating platform provides strong downside support to the equity near current trading levels on the common. Pilgrim's owns its 30 plants (spanning 14 states, Puerto Rico and Mexico) — capable of producing 38mn chickens weekly — and 15 distribution centers, with a ‘low end' replacement value of $2.47bn, by our estimates, or $4.78 per share.” Pilgrim's Pride Corporation closed on Thursday at $4.78.