SummerHaven Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,697 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter worth about $457,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at about $313,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 237,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,555,000 after buying an additional 10,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2,666.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 44,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after buying an additional 43,243 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 82.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PPC stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $35.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 61,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 662,655. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.05. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 12-month low of $19.96 and a 12-month high of $36.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.49) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PPC. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Pilgrim’s Pride Profile

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.