PFG Advisors Buys New Holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

PFG Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,370,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,599,000 after purchasing an additional 487,219 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 77.0% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 785,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,796,000 after buying an additional 341,517 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 448.0% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 396,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,847,000 after buying an additional 324,382 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 26.1% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,070,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,374,000 after acquiring an additional 221,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 180.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,685,000 after acquiring an additional 220,673 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $37.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 0.48. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.73 and a 1-year high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 37.75% and a net margin of 6.70%.The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PPC. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.