Two Sigma Advisers LP Raises Stock Position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 130.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 140,100 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 79,400 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.06% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $6,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $118,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Santander assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.40.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Shares of PPC stock traded up $0.13 on Wednesday, hitting $48.45. 969,768 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,190,425. The firm has a market cap of $11.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.51. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $33.70 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. Pilgrim's Pride's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $6.30 dividend. This is a boost from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd.

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.