6,368 Shares in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Bought by CHICAGO TRUST Co NA

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 19,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $45.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.01. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $33.94 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 0.48.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $6.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Santander began coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.40.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.