Man Group plc Has $41.78 Million Stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Man Group plc decreased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 920,357 shares of the company’s stock after selling 590,846 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.39% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $41,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Santander assumed coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.40.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ PPC opened at $45.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.14. The company has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 12 month low of $33.70 and a 12 month high of $57.16.

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a $6.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 3rd. This is an increase from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.