Merit Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 102.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 16,381 shares of the company's stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 827,381 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,883,708 shares of the company's stock worth $85,502,000 after purchasing an additional 576,438 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company's stock worth $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 333,077 shares of the company's stock worth $15,118,000 after purchasing an additional 203,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter worth $8,381,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

PPC traded up $0.39 on Friday, reaching $46.14. 941,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,212,886. The company's 50-day moving average price is $49.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.67. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.37 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.48.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Santander started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.