Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP Makes New Investment in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,883,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,502,000 after buying an additional 576,438 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,766,000 after buying an additional 389,967 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 333,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,118,000 after buying an additional 203,192 shares during the last quarter. Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at $8,381,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at $8,601,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Santander assumed coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. StockNews.com cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.40.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $47.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.01. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52-week low of $33.70 and a 52-week high of $57.16. The firm has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day moving average is $50.98 and its 200 day moving average is $50.14.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 32.83% and a net margin of 6.08%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were paid a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a positive change from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd.

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.