7,011 Shares in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 102.0% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 16,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 827,381 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,883,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,502,000 after purchasing an additional 576,438 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 156.4% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 333,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,118,000 after purchasing an additional 203,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth about $8,381,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ PPC opened at $45.11 on Thursday. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a one year low of $34.37 and a one year high of $57.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 0.48.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PPC shares. Santander started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.40.

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.