BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $3.31, but opened at $3.09. BRF shares last traded at $3.15, with a volume of 879,619 shares traded.

The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.11). BRF had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion.

BRF Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a $0.0217 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a yield of 1.6%. BRF’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on BRFS shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of BRF from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered BRF from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BRF presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.70.

Institutional Trading of BRF

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in BRF by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 284,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 95,158 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of BRF by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 68,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 19,670 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of BRF by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 662,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,696,000 after buying an additional 348,600 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of BRF by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,217,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,025,000 after buying an additional 91,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of BRF in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,490,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.76% of the company’s stock.

BRF Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 7.16, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.86.

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.