Wellington Management Group LLP Increases Stake in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 81.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,588 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,505 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $2,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $232,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,965 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $85,502,000 after acquiring an additional 576,438 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 389,967 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company's stock worth $62,513,000 after acquiring an additional 180,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,125,329 shares of the company's stock worth $51,079,000 after acquiring an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $47.49. The stock had a trading volume of 975,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,197,672. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 12-month low of $33.94 and a 12-month high of $57.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.93.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 6.08%. Pilgrim's Pride's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Santander assumed coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Five 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, Pilgrim's Pride has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.40.

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.