Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,700,000 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the December 15th total of 4,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of BRF

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BRFS. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BRF in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BRF in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of BRF in the 2nd quarter worth about $58,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of BRF by 127.1% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 15,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 8,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BRF by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 17,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 4,966 shares during the period. 4.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded BRF from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.70.

BRF Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BRFS stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.76. 3,000,111 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,765,155. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.23 and a 200 day moving average of $4.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. BRF has a 1 year low of $2.45 and a 1 year high of $4.87. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 8.73, a PEG ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.88.

BRF Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued a $0.0217 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. BRF’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.93%.

BRF Company Profile

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.