Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Trims Stake in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation $PPC

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation by 7.7%, holding 487,957 shares worth $26.6 million after selling 40,790 shares.
• Analysts have recently changed their ratings on Pilgrim’s Pride, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.00.
• Pilgrim's Pride reported earnings of $1.70 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue increasing 4.3% year-over-year to $4.76 billion.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 487,957 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,790 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $26,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPC. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 102.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 44.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 26.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 26.1% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,070,893 shares of the company's stock worth $58,374,000 after purchasing an additional 221,617 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 6,367.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 173,832 shares of the company's stock worth $9,476,000 after buying an additional 171,144 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Pilgrim's Pride stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.61. 1,049,468 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,390,094. The company has a market cap of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a 12-month low of $40.09 and a 12-month high of $57.16.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 37.15%. Pilgrim's Pride's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Pilgrim's Pride Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th.

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.