Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 205.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew 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 worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $31.69 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.40. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78 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. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.90 and a 12 month high of $45.44.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride 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.