Ameriprise Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 175,348 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,731 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $7,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ruffer LLP acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,381,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 58,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,646,000 after buying an additional 13,459 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 73.9% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 28,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,298,000 after buying an additional 12,149 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $249,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 15,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 5,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride stock traded up $0.41 on Friday, hitting $49.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 794,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,192,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.01. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 1 year low of $33.70 and a 1 year high of $57.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.11. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.51.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. Pilgrim's Pride's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a positive change from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PPC shares. Santander started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.