July 29, 2008

Pilgrim's Pride stock dropped 6.9 percent to US$12.52 on Monday (July 28, 2008), as the company's shares head for a fourth-straight loss.
 

The intraday low of US$12.23 was the lowest since July 8.

Back in June 16, Pilgrim's Pride shares dropped 8.3 percent to US$16.87, with the intraday low at US$16.43, the company's lowest level since January 2004.

Chicken prices have not managed to increase enough to cover high feed costs, leading Pilgrim's Pride to take several actions to limit losses. In the past few months, the company had announced its decision to sell 7.5 million of its shares, to cut production by 5 percent, and closing six distribution centres and one processing facility. The company also plans to consolidate a tray-pack chicken processing operation and close a distribution facility to cut costs, with the move estimating to cause about 600 job losses.

Pilgrim's Pride is the largest chicken company in the US and Puerto Rico and the second largest in Mexico.