PDT Partners LLC Invests $9.77 Million in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 347,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,771,000. PDT Partners LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Pilgrim’s Pride at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays raised Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of PPC opened at $32.43 on Wednesday. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.90 and a twelve month high of $45.44. The company has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.66.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.06). Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 21.70% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

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.