Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Boosts Stock Position in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 121.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,231 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,099 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $1,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,804,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,306,000 after purchasing an additional 131,482 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,482,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,512,000 after purchasing an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,676,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,965,000 after acquiring an additional 423,690 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 404,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,584,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,282,000 after acquiring an additional 280,745 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $29.02 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 0.33. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.13 and a 1-year high of $50.56.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.20.

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.