Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) CFO Matthew Galvanoni Sells 6,963 Shares of Stock

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) CFO Matthew Galvanoni sold 6,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $303,029.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 91,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,977,597.44. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 1.1%

Pilgrim’s Pride stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $40.98. The stock had a trading volume of 84,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 893,189. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.65. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.73 and a 1-year high of $56.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14). Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 35.15% and a net margin of 5.85%.The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter worth approximately $1,858,000. Barings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,335,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 163.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 117,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,000 after acquiring an additional 73,068 shares during the period. Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 3,257.0% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 29,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 10.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,672,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,993,000 after purchasing an additional 516,598 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Santander upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Zacks Research cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.33.

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.