Insider Selling: Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) CFO Sells 6,963 Shares of Stock

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) CFO Matthew Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,977,597.44. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ:PPC traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $41.19. 138,713 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 899,192. The company has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.41. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.73 and a 1 year high of $56.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PPC. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at $1,858,000. Barings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,335,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 163.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 117,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after buying an additional 73,068 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 3,257.0% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 29,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,993,000 after acquiring an additional 516,598 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.