Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,146 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,017 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $4,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.4% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PPC. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

PPC stock opened at $37.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.49. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.73 and a 1 year high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 37.75%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company 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.