Matthew R. Galvanoni Sells 6,500 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Stock

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,292.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ PPC traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.22. The company had a trading volume of 874,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,206. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.69. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 52 week low of $22.33 and a 52 week high of $45.48.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.62 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 25.06% and a net margin of 4.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.6% during the first quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 11,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.7% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 11,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.2% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 31,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on PPC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Argus upped their target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.40.

Pilgrim’s Pride Company Profile

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.