Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 350,440 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

Verition Fund Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 96.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter valued at $27,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the third quarter worth about $34,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their target price on 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. 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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 research note on Thursday, August 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Shares of PPC opened at $49.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $55.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

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.