MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Invests $55,000 in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 6,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 19,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $49.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.64 and its 200 day moving average is $49.95. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 1 year low of $33.70 and a 1 year high of $57.16.

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

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a positive change from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PPC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Santander initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.40.

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.