Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 15,642 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 76.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,195 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,642 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,776,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,251 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,171,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,689,000 after purchasing an additional 404,915 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 21.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,584,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,282,000 after purchasing an additional 280,745 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 48.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,459,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,635,000 after buying an additional 477,216 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,243,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,758,000 after buying an additional 166,967 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC stock opened at $43.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.86 and a 200 day moving average of $41.49. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.73 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PPC. Wall Street Zen lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research raised Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Santander upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Profile

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.