State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $252,000 Stock Holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its position in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 96.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,638 shares of the company's stock after selling 127,555 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PPC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,965 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 44.1% during 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 last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,513,000 after buying an additional 180,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,125,329 shares of the company's stock worth $51,079,000 after buying an additional 119,555 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated 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 on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Santander started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.67.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Pilgrim's Pride stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $45.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 564,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,321,028. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.45. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.28 and a twelve month high of $57.16. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $47.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

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

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.