Picton Mahoney Asset Management Increases Position in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 97,937.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,470 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,443 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $1,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PPC. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 146,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,671,000 after purchasing an additional 11,386 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth about $440,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 41,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,973 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,119,000 after buying an additional 33,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 68,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,093,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of PPC stock opened at $46.92 on Wednesday. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $57.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.54 and its 200 day moving average is $49.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25 and a beta of 0.45.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 36.95%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPC. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.67.

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.