HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,571 Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,348 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,571 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PPC. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 903.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,455,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,530 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 881,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,620,000 after buying an additional 11,128 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 849,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,549,000 after buying an additional 21,575 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Pilgrim’s Pride by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 429,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,492,000 after acquiring an additional 57,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 201,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,292,000 after acquiring an additional 40,908 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PPC shares. StockNews.com cut Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Santander started coverage on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PPC opened at $54.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.71. Pilgrim’s Pride Co. has a 12-month low of $33.67 and a 12-month high of $57.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.71.

Pilgrim’s Pride Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $6.30 dividend. This is a boost from Pilgrim’s Pride’s previous special dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd.

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.