Kestra Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation $PPC

Key Points

• Kestra Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation by 72.5%, acquiring an additional 15,121 shares, bringing its total holdings to 35,987 shares valued at approximately $1.95 million.
• Major institutional investors like Millennium Management LLC and MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS also significantly boosted their shares in Pilgrim's Pride, reflecting growing confidence in the company's performance.
• Pilgrim's Pride reported $1.70 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $4.76 billion, marking a 4.3% increase year-over-year.

Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 72.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,987 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,121 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $1,955,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,903,586 shares of the company's stock worth $158,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,549 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 25.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,370,927 shares of the company's stock worth $128,599,000 after buying an additional 487,219 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,766,000 after buying an additional 389,967 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 26.1% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,070,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,374,000 after acquiring an additional 221,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 77.0% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 785,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,796,000 after acquiring an additional 341,517 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.50.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Down 0.8%

PPC traded down $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.30. 1,763,154 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,344,178. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $40.09 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. The stock has a market cap of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 0.50. The business's 50 day moving average is $46.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.16. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 37.15%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th.

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.