Edgestream Partners L.P. Cuts Stake in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. lessened its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,336 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,440 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 238,151 shares of the company's stock worth $10,967,000 after purchasing an additional 45,172 shares during the period. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim's Pride during the third quarter valued at approximately $719,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 26.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,255 shares of the company's stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 106.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 158,826 shares of the company's stock worth $7,314,000 after buying an additional 81,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 165.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 96,691 shares of the company's stock worth $4,453,000 after buying an additional 60,201 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PPC. Bank of America downgraded Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Argus lifted their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC stock traded up $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $51.43. The company had a trading volume of 804,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 900,391. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a twelve month low of $25.60 and a twelve month high of $55.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 29.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. Pilgrim's Pride's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride Company Profile

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.