BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Stock Price Up 4.2% – Still a Buy?

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) was up 4.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $3.34 and last traded at $3.38. Approximately 253,840 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,003,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BRFS. Citigroup upgraded BRF from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded BRF from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BRF has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.70.

BRF Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.90.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BRF

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in BRF by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 7,682,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,268,000 after buying an additional 1,096,016 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of BRF by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,975,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 687,243 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in BRF by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,454,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,890 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in BRF in the fourth quarter worth $9,258,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in BRF by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,217,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,025,000 after purchasing an additional 91,268 shares in the last quarter. 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.