Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 165,002 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 557,125 shares of the company’s stock after selling 165,002 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.23% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $25,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PPC. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1,289.4% during 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 during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 145,879.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 827,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,116,000 after buying an additional 827,134 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 366.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 638,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,320,000 after buying an additional 501,776 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 203,408 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Management of KS Inc. bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,277,000. 16.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $51.04 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.16. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $55.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.82. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.36. The firm had revenue of $4.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.69 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 29.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 4.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus upped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.50.

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.