Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,839,131 shares of the company’s stock after selling 274,757 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 2.04% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $263,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter valued at approximately $74,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 46.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter valued at approximately $133,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PPC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $47.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.59 and a 200-day moving average of $49.45. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 52 week low of $40.09 and a 52 week high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 6.81%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th.

Pilgrim’s Pride Profile

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.