Bank of America Corp DE Sells 243,626 Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,356,437 shares of the company's stock after selling 243,626 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.57% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $61,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 175,348 shares of the company's stock worth $7,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,731 shares during the period. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth $695,000. AXA S.A. bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth $232,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth $362,000. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride stock traded up $1.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.64. 1,386,875 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,180,411. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $50.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.17. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a twelve month low of $33.70 and a twelve month high of $57.16. The company has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 0.51.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a positive change from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPC has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com lowered Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Santander initiated coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Five equities 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.40.

Pilgrim's Pride Company Profile

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.