Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases Shares of 17,190 Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, purchasing 17,190 shares valued at approximately $937,000 during the first quarter.
• Pilgrim's Pride reported a Q2 EPS of $1.70, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.54, and a revenue of $4.76 billion, which is a 4.3% increase year-over-year.
• Analysts have given Pilgrim's Pride an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $48.67, following recent coverage from The Goldman Sachs Group.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 17,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $937,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 33,965 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 valued at $85,502,000 after purchasing an additional 576,438 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,125,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,079,000 after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 897,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,761,000 after purchasing an additional 15,905 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.67.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 384,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,930. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.63. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $40.09 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $46.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.23. The company has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.50.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.16. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 6.81%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS 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.