Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Shares Bought by Aquatic Capital Management LLC

Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 478.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,851 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 38,751 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $2,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 132.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth approximately $118,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC traded down $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,748,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,567. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.67 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.07.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for 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%. Pilgrim's Pride's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $6.30 dividend. 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Santander started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.