Two Sigma Investments LP Has $6.78 Million Stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Two Sigma Investments LP trimmed its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 41.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 149,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107,544 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $6,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 56,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,578,000 after acquiring an additional 13,043 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 102.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 16,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 827,381 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth about $243,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth about $364,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 110.4% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 14,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 7,400 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPC. Santander began coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.40.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of PPC stock opened at $49.60 on Monday. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 12-month low of $33.70 and a 12-month high of $57.16. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is an increase from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 3rd.

Pilgrim’s Pride Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.