World Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $808,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 1,289.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,225,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $240,621,000 after acquiring an additional 4,849,147 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Pilgrim's Pride by 903.9% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,455,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,530 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Pilgrim's Pride by 145,879.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company's stock worth $38,116,000 after buying an additional 827,134 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 366.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company's stock worth $24,320,000 after buying an additional 501,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Pilgrim's Pride by 88.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 433,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,981,000 after buying an additional 203,408 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus increased their target price on Pilgrim's Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on Pilgrim's Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens began coverage on Pilgrim's Pride in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of 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. Five investment 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 company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.50.

Pilgrim's Pride Trading Down 1.1 %

PPC stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.65. 839,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 901,599. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.40 and a 200-day moving average of $43.96. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $25.87 and a 1 year high of $55.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.82.

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. Pilgrim's Pride had a return on equity of 29.92% and a net margin of 5.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Pilgrim's Pride Co. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.