Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Shares Purchased by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP increased its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 79.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,122 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 102,180 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.10% of Pilgrim's Pride worth $6,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 2,666.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 44,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,241,000 after buying an additional 43,243 shares in the last quarter. Barings LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter worth about $4,063,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 142.2% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 108,982 shares of the company's stock worth $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 63,982 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $987,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,131,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

PPC stock traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.40. 885,870 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 681,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.55. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 12 month low of $19.96 and a 12 month high of $39.00.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.17. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 2.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pilgrim's Pride

In other Pilgrim's Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 82.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim's Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.