Brandes Investment Partners LP Buys Shares of 1,678,836 Jbs N.V. $JBS

Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in Jbs N.V. (NYSE:JBS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,678,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,209,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBS. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of JBS by 338.5% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 89,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 69,363 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of JBS by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 148,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,153,000 after purchasing an additional 3,214 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of JBS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of JBS by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,292,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,639,000 after purchasing an additional 108,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of JBS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,359,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of JBS from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of JBS from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $20.50 to $18.50 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of JBS from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of JBS from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group set a $17.00 price objective on shares of JBS in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.00.

JBS Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE JBS opened at $12.01 on Thursday. Jbs N.V. has a 1 year low of $11.49 and a 1 year high of $18.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $15.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.22. The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion and a P/E ratio of 7.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.50.

JBS (NYSE:JBS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.08). JBS had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 1.98%.The firm had revenue of $21.61 billion for the quarter. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jbs N.V. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

JBS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. JBS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.89%.

About JBS

JBS SA is a global leader in the production and processing of meat products, with a focus on beef, pork and poultry. Headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, the company operates through an extensive network of owned facilities and partnerships that span the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. JBS supplies fresh, frozen and value-added protein solutions for retail, foodservice and industrial customers, and is active across the entire supply chain—from livestock procurement and feed production to slaughtering, processing, packaging and distribution.

Founded in 1953 by José Batista Sobrinho in Anápolis, Goiás, JBS began as a small slaughterhouse and expanded rapidly through strategic acquisitions and organic growth.