Vestcor Inc Boosts Position in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Vestcor Inc increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 86.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,818 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,068 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $3,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 10.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,993,000 after acquiring an additional 516,598 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,776,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,251 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,676,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,965,000 after buying an additional 423,690 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 22.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,171,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,689,000 after purchasing an additional 404,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,584,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,282,000 after buying an additional 280,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 2.7%

PPC stock opened at $38.64 on Wednesday. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a one year low of $35.73 and a one year high of $56.73. The firm has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 35.15%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at $3,977,597.44. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 82.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PPC. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.33.

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.