Truist Financial Corp Invests $1.04 Million in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 26,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PPC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,320,000 after buying an additional 501,776 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 763.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 215,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,968,000 after acquiring an additional 190,770 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 1st quarter worth about $6,515,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,233,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,310,000 after purchasing an additional 136,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 318,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,266,000 after purchasing an additional 129,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus raised their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Stephens initiated coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays raised their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $44.58 on Monday. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $23.15 and a 52 week high of $49.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.53.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 25.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,292.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Pilgrim’s Pride 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total value of $281,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,292.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.