BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $3.41, but opened at $3.49. BRF shares last traded at $3.56, with a volume of 168,430 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BRFS shares. Citigroup upgraded BRF from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of BRF from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BRF presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.70.

BRF Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.01.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last announced its earnings results 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). BRF had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Brf S.A. will post 0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BRF

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BRF during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BRF during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. PFG Investments LLC bought a new stake in BRF in the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in BRF in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BRF during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

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.