BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Upgraded to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

BRF (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $3.10 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $1.90. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price indicates a potential downside of 10.66% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BRFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BRF from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Barclays upgraded BRF from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $2.50 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised BRF from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BRF has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $3.55.

BRF Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BRFS traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $3.47. The company had a trading volume of 5,644,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,535,419. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. BRF has a 1 year low of $1.15 and a 1 year high of $3.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.26 and a beta of 1.95. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $3.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.77.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.08. The business 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BRF will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of BRF

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BRFS. Creative Planning bought a new stake in BRF in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of BRF by 223.4% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 14,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 9,835 shares during the last quarter. Intelligence Driven Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of BRF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BRF during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in BRF in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 4.76% of the company's stock.

About BRF

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.