Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 22,017 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation $PPC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,146 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,017 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $4,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PPC. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 49,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,216,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 93,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 12,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Performance

Shares of PPC stock opened at $37.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.68 and a 200 day moving average of $44.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 0.48. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.73 and a 52 week high of $57.16.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.11. Pilgrim’s Pride had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 37.75%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $54.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.00.

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.