Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC Shares Sold by UBS Group AG

UBS Group AG lessened its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 464,392 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,808 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 0.20% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $18,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 6.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 100,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,479,000 after buying an additional 5,950 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 136.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 180.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after acquiring an additional 166,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $28.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.48. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.28 and a 1 year high of $51.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.36. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a PE ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 0.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 4.78%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Barclays upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stephens set a $40.00 price target on Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.25.

Insider Transactions at Pilgrim’s Pride

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares in the company, valued at $3,977,597.44. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 82.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pilgrim’s Pride Profile

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.