By Yasin Ebrahim
A slew of chicken producers came under fire on Wednesday after the CEO of Pilgrim's Pride was charged with conspiring to fix prices on chickens sold to restaurants and grocery stores.
Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) fell 11%, Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ:SAFM) was down 6% and Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) was down 3.6%.
As well as Pilgrim's Pride CEO Jayson Penn, former vice president Roger Austin, president of Georgia-based Claxton Mikell Fries, and a vice president Scott Brady (NYSE:BRC) were charged with conspiring to fix chicken prices, The Wall Street Journal reported.
That is not the first time chicken producers have been accused of colluding on prices. In 2016, chicken companies, including Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson Farms and Perdue Farms were accused of inflating prices, the Journal added.
