Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 13,918 Shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,918 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Pilgrim's Pride were worth $3,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Vestcor Inc increased its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 19,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 3.3% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 13,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 19,033 shares of the company's stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Pilgrim's Pride by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the company's stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PPC. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Pilgrim's Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Pilgrim's Pride from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Santander assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim's Pride in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.33.

Pilgrim's Pride Price Performance

Shares of PPC traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $51.94. 864,409 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,000,696. The company has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.71. Pilgrim's Pride Co. has a 1 year low of $33.25 and a 1 year high of $57.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Pilgrim's Pride Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a boost 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.