Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Increases Position in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation $PPC

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation by 46.8%, bringing its total shares to 25,283, valued at approximately $1.14 million.
• In recent analyst ratings, Pilgrim's Pride received a neutral rating with a price target of $50.00 from Goldman Sachs, while other firms downgraded their ratings, indicating a cautious outlook for the stock.
• Pilgrim's Pride declared a special dividend of $2.10 per share, with the payment issued on September 3rd, reflecting strong financial performance with $4.76 billion in revenue for the last quarter.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,283 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,055 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PPC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 1.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,903,586 shares of the company's stock worth $158,261,000 after purchasing an additional 29,549 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 25.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,370,927 shares of the company's stock worth $128,599,000 after purchasing an additional 487,219 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 166,967 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 26.1% during 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, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 77.0% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 785,098 shares of the company's stock worth $42,796,000 after purchasing an additional 341,517 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.00.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

PPC opened at $40.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.39. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 0.45. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a twelve month low of $39.90 and a twelve month high of $57.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 37.15%. The business's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PPC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.