Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,681 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Simplicity Solutions LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 13,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 878 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.1% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 300,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PPC. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $1,332,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 1.1 %

PPC stock opened at $36.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a twelve month low of $19.96 and a twelve month high of $36.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.14.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.49) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Profile

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.