BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

BRF (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BRFS. Citigroup upgraded BRF from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $3.50 target price (down from $5.00) on shares of BRF in a report on Monday.

BRF Price Performance

BRFS traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.70. 2,276,616 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,473,943. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.79. The company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.44. BRF has a twelve month low of $2.99 and a twelve month high of $4.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. BRF had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 19.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.78 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that BRF will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BRF

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in BRF by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 7,682,476 shares of the company's stock worth $31,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,016 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BRF by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,634,548 shares of the company's stock worth $19,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,453 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of BRF by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,975,651 shares of the company's stock worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 687,243 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in BRF in the 4th quarter valued at $9,258,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in BRF by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,217,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,025,000 after purchasing an additional 91,268 shares in the last quarter. 4.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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