Wellington Management Group LLP Boosts Stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 36,083 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,682 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $1,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted 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 valued at $240,621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,849,147 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 903.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,455,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,026,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310,530 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew 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 worth $38,116,000 after acquiring an additional 827,134 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 501,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 16.7% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 635,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,450,000 after purchasing an additional 91,127 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Argus upped their price target on shares of 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 raised their price target 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. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of PPC stock opened at $48.16 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 1-year low of $26.07 and a 1-year high of $55.50. The firm has a market cap of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.36. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 29.92%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.12 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.