Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Short Interest Update

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, an increase of 20.2% from the March 31st total of 1,780,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 686,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ PPC opened at $36.02 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.14. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 12-month low of $19.96 and a 12-month high of $36.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.49) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,691,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,097,000 after acquiring an additional 72,446 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,299,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,939,000 after acquiring an additional 328,660 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 734,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,319,000 after buying an additional 8,173 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 593,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,548,000 after buying an additional 3,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 300,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,860,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on PPC. TheStreet raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.25.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.