South Dakota Investment Council Lowers Holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 68,444 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,075 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $3,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the first quarter worth about $74,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the first quarter worth about $133,000. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the first quarter worth about $144,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed 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 objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Shares of PPC opened at $44.94 on Friday. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a twelve month low of $39.31 and a twelve month high of $57.16. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $46.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 36.95%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. Pilgrim's Pride's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride 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.

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