BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $4.00 to $4.50. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. BRF traded as high as $3.81 and last traded at $3.81, with a volume of 523569 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $3.74.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BRF from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $1.90 to $3.10 in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BRF from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of BRF from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of BRF by 62.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 13,902,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,500,000 after acquiring an additional 5,357,987 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BRF by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 76,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 10,172 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in shares of BRF by 16.6% during the third 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 last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of BRF in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC bought a new position in BRF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

BRF Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.60 and a beta of 1.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $3.37 and its 200 day moving average is $2.99.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter. BRF had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 2.93%. On average, equities analysts predict that Brf S.A. will post 0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.