BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Shares Gap Up to $3.19

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $3.19, but opened at $3.35. BRF shares last traded at $3.42, with a volume of 1,186,114 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BRFS has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays raised BRF from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $2.50 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised BRF from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BRF from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised BRF from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $1.90 to $3.10 in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BRF currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3.55.

BRF Trading Down 2.0 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of -17.89 and a beta of 1.95.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter. BRF had a negative return on equity of 8.52% and a negative net margin of 2.29%. Analysts predict that Brf S.A. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BRF

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS Group AG increased its position in BRF by 62.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 13,902,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,500,000 after purchasing an additional 5,357,987 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in BRF by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 66,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 15,018 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in BRF by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 360,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 51,454 shares during the period. Greytown Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in BRF during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in BRF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,000. 4.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BRF

BRF SA engages in raising, producing, and slaughtering poultry and pork for processing, production, and sale of fresh meat, processed products, pasta, margarine, pet food, and other products. The company's product portfolio comprises meat products, including frozen whole and cut chicken, frozen pork, and turkey; processed food products, such as marinated, frozen, whole, and cut chicken, roosters, sausages, ham products, bologna, frankfurters, salamis, bacon, cold meats, other smoked products; and frozen processed meats comprising hamburgers, steaks, breaded meat products, kibbeh, and meatballs, as well as chicken sausages, chicken hot dogs, and chicken bologna.