Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 13,288 Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 83.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,265 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,288 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company's stock worth $232,119,000 after purchasing an additional 33,965 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company's stock worth $62,513,000 after buying an additional 180,164 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,125,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,079,000 after buying an additional 119,555 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 897,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,761,000 after acquiring an additional 15,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 849,276 shares of the company's stock worth $38,549,000 after acquiring an additional 21,575 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim's Pride stock traded up $1.44 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $47.13. The company had a trading volume of 336,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,169,219. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.15 and a 200 day moving average of $50.14. 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 market cap of $11.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.51. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a one year low of $33.70 and a one year high of $57.16.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PPC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Santander assumed coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.