Man Group plc Sells 590,846 Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Man Group plc cut its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 920,357 shares of the company's stock after selling 590,846 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.39% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $41,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 132.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the 4th quarter worth $118,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PPC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Santander began coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.40.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride stock traded up $1.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.74. 790,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,178,750. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.16. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $33.70 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The firm has a market cap of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.51.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm 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 revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current 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 positive change 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.