Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Shares Up 2.6% – Time to Buy?

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) traded up 2.6% on Monday . The company traded as high as $54.85 and last traded at $54.80. 258,451 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 1,072,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PPC has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, Santander started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.01.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $6.30 per share. This is a positive change from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,113,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,119,000 after buying an additional 33,965 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,883,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,502,000 after purchasing an additional 576,438 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,845,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,766,000 after purchasing an additional 389,967 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,377,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,513,000 after purchasing an additional 180,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,125,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,079,000 after purchasing an additional 119,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. engages in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators. It operates through the following segments: U.S., U.K. and Europe, and Mexico. The company was founded by Lonnie A.