Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Shares Bought by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 83.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,265 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,288 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $1,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 132.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter worth approximately $118,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,445 shares of the company's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ PPC opened at $47.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.70 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.14. The stock has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 0.51.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a $6.30 dividend. This is a boost from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd.

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.

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