Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Takes Position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,016 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PPC. 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 in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company's stock worth $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 333,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,118,000 after buying an additional 203,192 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,381,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride in the fourth quarter worth about $8,601,000. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ:PPC traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.81. The company had a trading volume of 221,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,183,328. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $50.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.17. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 52-week low of $33.70 and a 52-week high of $57.16. 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 company has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.13 and a beta of 0.51.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 6.08%. The company's revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $6.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on PPC shares. 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. Santander assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Five investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.40.

About Pilgrim's Pride

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.