Verition Fund Management LLC Has $549,000 Stock Position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its position in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 96.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,930 shares of the company's stock after selling 350,440 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC's holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 827,134 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 366.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company's stock worth $24,320,000 after acquiring an additional 501,776 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 16.7% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 88.3% during 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 last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Down 0.3 %

PPC traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $49.83. 694,223 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 898,825. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a one year low of $25.68 and a one year high of $55.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $49.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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, 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 business had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Pilgrim's Pride's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Pilgrim's Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens began coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.