Picton Mahoney Asset Management Boosts Position in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 157.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,550 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,633 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $1,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 100,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 5,950 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 180.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,685,000 after purchasing an additional 220,673 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after purchasing an additional 166,967 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 24.2% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

PPC stock opened at $40.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.65. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 52-week low of $35.73 and a 52-week high of $56.88. The company has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.85% and a return on equity of 35.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $303,029.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,977,597.44. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 82.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Finally, Santander upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

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.