Bridgewater Associates LP Has $1.20 Million Holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 52.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,076 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,630 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 1,289.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,225,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,621,000 after buying an additional 4,849,147 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 145,879.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,116,000 after purchasing an additional 827,134 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 366.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,320,000 after purchasing an additional 501,776 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 635,240 shares of the company's stock worth $24,450,000 after purchasing an additional 91,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 88.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,981,000 after purchasing an additional 203,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

PPC stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $51.40. 1,103,991 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 899,455. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.90. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a one year low of $25.51 and a one year high of $55.50. The company has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.81.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 29.92%. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Stephens started coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pilgrim's Pride presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.50.

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.