StockNews.com Downgrades BRF (NYSE:BRFS) to Buy

BRF (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Thursday.

Separately, Citigroup upgraded shares of BRF from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to 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 traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.10. 835,706 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,008,025. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 7.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.17. BRF has a 12-month low of $2.99 and a 12-month high of $4.87.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. BRF had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 6.52%. On average, analysts forecast that BRF will post 0.45 EPS for the current year.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On BRF

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in BRF by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 7,682,476 shares of the company's stock worth $31,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,016 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of BRF by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,975,651 shares of the company's stock worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 687,243 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BRF by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,454,095 shares of the company's stock worth $18,128,000 after buying an additional 1,996,890 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of BRF in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,258,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of BRF by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,217,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,025,000 after buying an additional 91,268 shares during the period. 4.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.