BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of BRF (NYSE:BRFS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of BRF from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BRF currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $10.70.

BRF Stock Performance

Shares of BRFS opened at $3.68 on Wednesday. BRF has a 52 week low of $2.67 and a 52 week high of $4.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.24.

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 paid a $0.0217 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. BRF’s payout ratio is currently 20.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in BRF by 534.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,623,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,816,000 after buying an additional 3,894,533 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of BRF by 660.0% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,208,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,373 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of BRF in the second quarter valued at $927,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in BRF by 886.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 230,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 207,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in BRF during the third quarter valued at $826,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

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.