Hsbc Holdings PLC Trims Stock Position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 64.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,847 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,201 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 345.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,364 shares of the company's stock worth $3,516,000 after acquiring an additional 59,228 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Pilgrim's Pride during the 3rd quarter valued at about $808,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,745 shares of the company's stock worth $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 10,489 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 325.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 55,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 42,136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PPC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Santander started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.40.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

PPC stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.22. 201,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,161,483. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 12 month low of $33.70 and a 12 month high of $57.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.12.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 6.08%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a $6.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd.

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.