Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 10,856 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 237,002 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,856 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.10% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $6,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 592.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 970,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,160,000 after acquiring an additional 830,555 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 11,280.9% in the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 528,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,249,000 after acquiring an additional 523,773 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 244.5% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 694,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,925,000 after acquiring an additional 492,934 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,050,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,510,000 after acquiring an additional 490,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 71.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,077,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,034,000 after acquiring an additional 447,019 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 40,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $1,332,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,565,405.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 82.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC opened at $35.55 on Friday. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $19.96 and a 52 week high of $36.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.16. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.49) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on PPC shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.25.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. The company offers fresh products, including refrigerated whole or cut-up chicken, selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated, primary pork cuts, added value pork, and pork ribs; and prepared products, which include fully cooked, ready-to-cook and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, processed sausages, bacon, smoked meat, gammon joints, pre-packed meats, sandwich and deli counter meats and meat balls.