Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 391,753 Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 391,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,274,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,522.6% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

PPC stock opened at $29.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 0.28. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.13 and a twelve month high of $50.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.18). Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 28.57%. The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens set a $40.00 price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.