BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Trading 4.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) rose 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.49 and last traded at $3.51. Approximately 558,111 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 2,517,413 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on BRFS. StockNews.com lowered BRF from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of BRF from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BRF presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.70.

BRF Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brf S.A. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BRF

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRFS. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in BRF in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BRF during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in BRF in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in BRF during the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BRF in the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BRF Company Profile

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.