Pilgrim’s Pride shares slide on 2015 earnings report

GREELEY — Chicken-processing giant Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) on Wednesday announced that the company is doubling the size of its previously announced share-repurchase program to try and help boost shareholder value.

The announcement came as the company reported a decrease in earnings for 2015.

Greeley-based Pilgrim’s Pride, which is majority-owned by JBS, said its stock repurchase authorization — to be carried out over the next 12 months — has been increased from $150 million to $300 million. The company said in its earnings report that it had bought back $99.2 million in shares during 2015.

The price of Pilgrim’s Pride shares has…