9,365 Shares in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Acquired by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 9,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,160,000 after purchasing an additional 830,555 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 300,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 593,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,548,000 after purchasing an additional 3,281 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Pilgrim’s Pride

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total value of $1,332,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 82.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 1.5 %

PPC stock opened at $37.11 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 1 year low of $19.96 and a 1 year high of $37.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.69. The firm has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.77.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.17. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.08 EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of 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 target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.25.

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.