Short Interest in Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) Expands By 19.5%

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,700,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the December 31st total of 4,770,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BRF from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of BRF from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BRF presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $10.70.

Institutional Trading of BRF

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRFS. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BRF during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BRF in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. PFG Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of BRF during the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of BRF by 127.1% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 8,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BRF by 39.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 17,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 4,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 4.76% of the company's stock.

BRF Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BRFS traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $3.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,507,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,729. The company has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.86. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $4.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.22. 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 has a 52 week low of $2.67 and a 52 week high of $4.87.

BRF Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a dividend of $0.0217 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a yield of 1.6%. BRF's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.93%.

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.