Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock Holdings Increased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,307 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PPC. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 903.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,455,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,530 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth $8,381,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $8,601,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at about $4,989,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 106.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 158,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,314,000 after acquiring an additional 81,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Santander started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $53.24 on Friday. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.67 and a fifty-two week high of $57.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.47. 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 company has a market cap of $12.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.71.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be 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 is 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.