Moran Wealth Management LLC Purchases 76,781 Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation $PPC

Key Points

• Moran Wealth Management boosted its Pilgrim's Pride stake by 97.5% in Q4, buying 76,781 shares to hold 155,492 shares worth about $6.06 million (roughly 0.07% of the company).
• Pilgrim's Pride recently missed EPS estimates ($0.64 reported vs. $0.78 expected) while beating revenue forecasts at $4.52 billion, and analysts' consensus rating is Hold with a $41 price target.
• The stock trades near its one‑year low ($32.79–$55.18) with a market cap of $8.07 billion and a low PE of 7.47; institutional ownership is 16.64% while insiders own about 82%, and the CFO recently sold 6,963 shares.

Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 97.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,492 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 76,781 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $6,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PPC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 6.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 100,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 5,950 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 136.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 180.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,685,000 after acquiring an additional 220,673 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 15.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,758,000 after acquiring an additional 166,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company's stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

PPC stock opened at $33.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a 1 year low of $32.79 and a 1 year high of $55.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.47 and a beta of 0.46. The company's 50-day moving average is $38.64 and its 200-day moving average is $39.08.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pilgrim's Pride

In related news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at $3,977,597.44. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 82.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PPC. Stephens set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Pilgrim's Pride 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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