Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 463,700 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its position in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 33.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 907,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 463,700 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.38% of Pilgrim’s Pride worth $34,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 205.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PPC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pilgrim’s Pride presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.83.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock opened at $29.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.50. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $26.50 and a fifty-two week high of $50.56. The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99 and a beta of 0.29.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 4.78%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.