Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Shares Purchased by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 151,344 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,836 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $6,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,289.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,225,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,621,000 after acquiring an additional 4,849,147 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,116,000 after buying an additional 827,134 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,320,000 after buying an additional 501,776 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 88.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,981,000 after buying an additional 203,408 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Management of KS Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,277,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PPC. Stephens began coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Argus boosted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.3 %

PPC opened at $51.43 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $25.60 and a 52 week high of $55.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 29.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

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.