Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Short Interest Update

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,410,000 shares, a growth of 22.7% from the August 15th total of 2,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 788,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 8.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.80.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $41.75. 139,720 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 738,876. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.82. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $22.33 and a 52 week high of $47.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.05.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.35. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 25.06%. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pilgrim’s Pride

In related news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,892,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,440,642.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pilgrim’s Pride news, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.31, for a total transaction of $281,515.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total value of $2,892,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 279,565 shares in the company, valued at $12,440,642.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 82.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 102.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. 16.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.