Short Interest in Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) Expands By 66.5%

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,430,000 shares, a growth of 66.5% from the September 30th total of 2,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on BRFS shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on BRF from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on BRF from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded BRF from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BRF

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BRF in the first quarter worth $188,000. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of BRF by 589.9% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 65,499 shares of the company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 56,005 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of BRF by 139.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 88,365 shares of the company's stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 51,525 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BRF in the first quarter worth $60,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BRF in the first quarter worth $70,000. 4.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BRF Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of BRF stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.30. 1,333,629 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,941,288. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 86.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.43 and a 200-day moving average of $3.97. BRF has a 12 month low of $1.95 and a 12 month high of $4.76.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. BRF had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 3.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.10) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BRF will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BRF Company Profile

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.