Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 11,128 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 881,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,128 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 0.37% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $40,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestcor Inc grew 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 worth $911,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 345.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 76,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,516,000 after acquiring an additional 59,228 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride during the third quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 128.5% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 12,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 7,171 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:PPC opened at $46.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.50. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52-week low of $26.52 and a 52-week high of $55.50. The company has a market cap of $10.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a PEG ratio of 0.20 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PPC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Argus raised their price target on 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, Stephens started coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

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.