Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $474,000 in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,288 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

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

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of PPC stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $51.34. 488,732 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 896,690. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 12-month low of $25.51 and a 12-month high of $55.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $48.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.90.

Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 29.92%. Pilgrim's Pride's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 4.91 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PPC shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. 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 objective for the company. Argus raised their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Pilgrim's Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.50.

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.