Pilgrim's Pride Corporation $PPC Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its holding in Pilgrim's Pride by 6.3% in Q4, bringing its position to 1,199,324 shares (about 0.50% ownership) valued at roughly $46.76 million.
• Analysts' consensus on PPC is a Hold with an average target of $41.33, and several brokers have trimmed targets recently (Goldman to $39, BMO to $40) while Zacks cut the stock to a "strong sell" after an EPS miss.
• Insiders own 82.23% of the company; CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares (reducing his stake by 7.08%) at an average price of $43.52 for about $303,030.

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,199,324 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 70,559 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc. owned about 0.50% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $46,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 6.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 100,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,479,000 after purchasing an additional 5,950 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 136.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 180.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,685,000 after purchasing an additional 220,673 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 15.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 166,967 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.3% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PPC. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 note on Wednesday, March 25th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,977,597.44. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 82.23% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ PPC opened at $35.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 0.46. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.39 and a 12 month high of $55.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $39.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.21.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Pilgrim's Pride

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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