Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 147,091 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,099 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.06% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $5,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,549,000 after acquiring an additional 11,576 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 755,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,442,000 after purchasing an additional 104,308 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the fourth quarter valued at $4,732,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 731,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after purchasing an additional 346,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth about $279,000. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PPC. Stephens set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a report on Friday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.20.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $28.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.18. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 1-year low of $26.50 and a 1-year high of $50.56.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.18). Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 28.57%. The company had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.