Short Interest in Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) Expands By 66.5%

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,430,000 shares, an increase of 66.5% from the September 30th total of 2,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

BRF Stock Performance

Shares of BRFS stock opened at $4.49 on Tuesday. BRF has a 52 week low of $1.95 and a 52 week high of $4.76. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.45.

BRF (NYSE:BRFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. BRF had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 3.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.10) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BRF will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of BRF by 886.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 230,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $939,000 after buying an additional 207,262 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in BRF by 534.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,623,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,816,000 after purchasing an additional 3,894,533 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BRF during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $496,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BRF during the second quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BRF in the second quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 4.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BRF from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com raised BRF from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on BRF from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.70.

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.