Martingale Asset Management L P Acquires 45,172 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 238,151 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,172 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $10,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PPC. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,289.4% during the 3rd 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. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% during 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,320,000 after acquiring an additional 501,776 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 88.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,981,000 after acquiring an additional 203,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,233,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,310,000 after acquiring an additional 136,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PPC opened at $51.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 1-year low of $25.33 and a 1-year high of $55.50. The firm has a market cap of $12.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.74.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.