Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) CFO Matthew Galvanoni Sells 6,963 Shares

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) CFO Matthew Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the business’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.19. 138,713 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 899,192. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.64. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $35.73 and a fifty-two week high of $56.88. The stock 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 (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 35.15%. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PPC shares. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Santander raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Company 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.