Short Interest in Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) Grows By 22.7%

Pilgrim’s Pride Co. (NASDAQ:PPC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,410,000 shares, an increase 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 8.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.50, for a total transaction of $2,892,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,440,642.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Fabio Sandri sold 65,000 shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 279,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,440,642.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew R. Galvanoni sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 51,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 82.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pilgrim’s Pride

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PPC. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Pilgrim’s Pride in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride by 102.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Pilgrim’s Pride Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Pilgrim’s Pride stock traded down $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.37. 1,647,883 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 734,478. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.82. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $22.33 and a 52 week high of $47.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.95. The company has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.82.

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Pilgrim’s Pride will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on PPC. Argus raised their price target on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America lowered shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Pilgrim’s Pride from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pilgrim’s Pride currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.80.

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.