SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 8,645 Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 76.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,940 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,645 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the first quarter valued at approximately $133,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 18.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the first quarter worth $185,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $45.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,824,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,226,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a 52 week low of $36.52 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The stock has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.47.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 36.95%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Pilgrim's Pride's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on PPC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Santander began coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.40.

About Pilgrim's Pride

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.