Edgestream Partners L.P. Purchases 58,843 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 256.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,776 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,843 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $3,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 734,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,319,000 after purchasing an additional 8,173 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,691,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,097,000 after acquiring an additional 72,446 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,856,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $781,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus increased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.80.

Insider Transactions at Pilgrim’s Pride

In related news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,892,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at $12,440,642.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $42.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52-week low of $22.33 and a 52-week high of $47.44.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 25.06% and a net margin of 4.25%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company 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.