Invesco Ltd. Buys 119,555 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,125,329 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 119,555 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.47% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $51,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 36,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 2,682 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter worth about $253,000. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter worth about $268,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 345.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 59,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 881,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,620,000 after buying an additional 11,128 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Santander began coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

PPC opened at $53.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.46. The company has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.63. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 12-month low of $33.67 and a 12-month high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is an increase from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd.

Pilgrim’s Pride Profile

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.