Pilgrim’s Pride prepares $1.5 billion special dividend payment

GREELEY, COLO. — As it prepared for an investor day event, Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., a unit of JBS SA, confirmed that it approved a $1.5 billion special dividend payment to shareholders.

The company said its board of directors approved the special cash dividend of $6.30 per share.

“Pilgrim’s is confident in the future of our business, and we believe our capital allocation strategy positions the company for continued, disciplined growth and enhanced earnings potential across our diversified portfolio,” said Fabio Sandri, chief executive officer of Pilgrim’s. “The board’s decision to pay a special dividend reflects our strong balance sheet and our commitment to create long-term stockholder value. Today’s announcement is a testament to our team’s ability to execute our key customer strategy, unlock value through differentiated offerings, and relentlessly pursue quality and service.”

Pilgrim’s named other areas it continues to look at, including expanding prepared foods due to brand growth, adding small bird capacity to support key customer growth, converting a bird plant to a case-ready facility for continued growth in retail and expanding protein conversion capacity.

In the last five years, the poultry company made investments of more than $950 million in acquisitions, $1.8 billion in share repurchases and dividends and $2.2 billion in capital expenditures.

Pilgrim’s noted the special dividend is payable on April 17 to the stockholder on record on April 3.