D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 113,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,143,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PPC. Barclays PLC raised its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 345.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,364 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 59,228 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 325.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 55,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 42,136 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,210,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $216,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Up 5.0%

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride stock traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,383,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,184,927. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.70 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.16. The firm has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.51.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 6.08%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $6.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target 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 shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Santander started coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.