BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also commented on BRFS. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BRF from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of BRF from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.70.

BRF Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of BRF stock opened at $4.28 on Tuesday. BRF has a 52-week low of $2.45 and a 52-week high of $4.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.06. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.93.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. BRF had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.10) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BRF will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BRF

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BRFS. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in BRF by 56.5% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,692,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056,054 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of BRF by 534.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,623,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,816,000 after acquiring an additional 3,894,533 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of BRF by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,776,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,229,000 after acquiring an additional 216,693 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of BRF by 660.0% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,208,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,373 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of BRF by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 837,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,408,000 after acquiring an additional 45,061 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

About BRF

BRF SA raises, produces, and slaughters poultry and pork for processing, production, and sale of fresh meat, processed products, pasta, margarine, pet food, and other products. The company provides frozen whole and cut chicken, frozen pork, and turkey, and halal products for Islamic markets; processed foods, such as marinated, frozen, seasoned whole, and cut chicken, roosters, sausages, ham products, bologna, frankfurters, salamis, bacons, cold meats, and other smoked products; and hamburgers, steaks, breaded meat products, kibbeh, and meatballs, as well as chicken sausages, hot dogs, and chicken bologna.