Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 15,314 Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 15,314 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $695,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,307 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 19,033 shares of the company's stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the company's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the company's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Up 1.5 %

PPC traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $47.46. The company had a trading volume of 551,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,160,110. The stock has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.51. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $33.70 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a boost from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PPC shares. Santander assumed coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.40.

About Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.