Assetmark Inc. Buys 38,650 Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation $PPC

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 3.2% in the first quarter, buying 38,650 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,237,974 shares worth about $46.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant, with several other hedge funds and asset managers also adding to their PPC positions; hedge funds and other institutional investors now own 16.64% of the stock.
• Analysts are cautious on Pilgrim's Pride, with a current Hold consensus and an average price target of $36.83, while the stock was trading at $29.11 and recently reported earnings that missed EPS estimates despite slightly beating revenue forecasts.

Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,237,974 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 38,650 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $46,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPC. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the 4th quarter valued at $1,202,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 2,486.1% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 113,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 109,388 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,210 shares of the company's stock worth $226,306,000 after buying an additional 131,482 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 107.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 194,031 shares of the company's stock worth $7,736,000 after buying an additional 100,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 164.8% during the fourth quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 60,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 37,784 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens set a $40.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Pilgrim's Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Pilgrim's Pride from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.83.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $29.11 on Friday. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a twelve month low of $26.50 and a twelve month high of $50.56. The company has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 4.78%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Pilgrim's Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim's Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company's vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.

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