Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $4.31 Million Holdings in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 30.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,678 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,918 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $4,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vestcor Inc grew its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 19,783 shares of the company's stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 3.3% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,836 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,259 shares of the company's stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 9,290 shares of the company's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,086 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens began coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim's Pride has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

PPC traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.92. 1,055,065 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,070,982. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.52 and a fifty-two week high of $55.50. The company has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.82. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 29.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The company's revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pilgrim's Pride 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.