JBS (NYSE:JBS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Jbs N.V. (NYSE:JBS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.20 and last traded at $18.1850, with a volume of 4869126 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on JBS from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Santander raised JBS from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings raised JBS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research downgraded JBS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised JBS to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

JBS Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28. The stock has a market cap of $14.07 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63.

JBS (NYSE:JBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($1.86). The business had revenue of $23.06 billion during the quarter. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

JBS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNDES Participacoes S.A. acquired a new position in shares of JBS in the 4th quarter valued at $2,874,074,000. Davis Selected Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of JBS during the fourth quarter worth $170,945,000. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of JBS during the third quarter worth $143,175,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of JBS by 23,891.7% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,583,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,285,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555,634 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of JBS by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,138,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,518,000 after purchasing an additional 327,364 shares during the period.

About JBS

JBS SA is a global leader in the production and processing of meat products, with a focus on beef, pork and poultry. Headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, the company operates through an extensive network of owned facilities and partnerships that span the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. JBS supplies fresh, frozen and value-added protein solutions for retail, foodservice and industrial customers, and is active across the entire supply chain—from livestock procurement and feed production to slaughtering, processing, packaging and distribution.

Founded in 1953 by José Batista Sobrinho in Anápolis, Goiás, JBS began as a small slaughterhouse and expanded rapidly through strategic acquisitions and organic growth.