BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Overweight

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BRF (NYSE:BRFS) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BRF from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of BRF from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $2.50 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $3.55.

BRF Stock Performance

Shares of BRFS opened at $3.47 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of -18.26 and a beta of 1.95. BRF has a one year low of $1.15 and a one year high of $3.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $3.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.77.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter. BRF had a negative net margin of 2.29% and a negative return on equity of 8.52%. As a group, analysts expect that BRF will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BRF

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in BRF by 1.7% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 234,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in BRF by 35.1% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 4,999 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in BRF by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 76,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 10,172 shares in the last quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC acquired a new position in BRF in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in BRF by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 33,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 12,530 shares in the last quarter. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BRF Company Profile

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.