BlackRock Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation $PPC

BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,942,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $138,936,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 2.08% of Pilgrim's Pride at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,792 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 0.9% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,476 shares of the company's stock worth $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PPC shares. Weiss Ratings cut Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays raised Pilgrim's Pride from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.50.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC opened at $31.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.48. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.90 and a 1 year high of $45.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.06). Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 21.70% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Pilgrim's Pride's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

About Pilgrim's Pride

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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