BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

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

Separately, Citigroup upgraded shares of BRF from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.70.

BRF Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BRFS opened at $3.44 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.05. BRF has a 1-year low of $2.99 and a 1-year high of $4.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.11). BRF had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that BRF will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BRF

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in BRF by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 241,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 119,346 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in 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 worth $5,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,373 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in BRF in the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in BRF by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 27,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 9,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in BRF in the 3rd quarter worth about $826,000. 4.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.