Signet Financial Management LLC Buys 20,228 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 69.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,390 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,228 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $1,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,306,000 after purchasing an additional 131,482 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,482,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,512,000 after buying an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,418,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,296,000 after buying an additional 742,204 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,171,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,689,000 after buying an additional 404,915 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,661,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,774,000 after acquiring an additional 108,949 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PPC shares. Bank of America cut their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Stephens set a $40.00 price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ PPC opened at $28.42 on Thursday. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 12 month low of $26.50 and a 12 month high of $50.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 0.29.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 4.78%.Pilgrim’s Pride’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.