Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Sells 435 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,149 shares of the company’s stock after selling 435 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,119,000 after buying an additional 33,965 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,513,000 after purchasing an additional 180,164 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 897,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,761,000 after purchasing an additional 15,905 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 849,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,549,000 after buying an additional 21,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 429,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,492,000 after buying an additional 57,837 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on 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 Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 0.8 %

PPC opened at $49.08 on Wednesday. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $57.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.63.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $6.30 dividend. This is a boost 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.