Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $626,000 in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 13,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $626,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 295.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 946 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Pilgrim's Pride in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 132.1% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride during the fourth quarter worth about $118,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Santander assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.33.

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Pilgrim's Pride Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC traded up $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.16. 487,304 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,043,660. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.37. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $57.16. The company has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.71.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a positive change from Pilgrim's Pride's previous special dividend of $2.75.

About Pilgrim's Pride

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.