BRF (NYSE:BRFS) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Brf S.A. (NYSE:BRFS) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.36, but opened at $4.23. BRF shares last traded at $4.27, with a volume of 216,775 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BRFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on BRF from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BRF from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BRF from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.70.

BRF Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.12.

BRF Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a $0.1001 dividend. This is an increase from BRF’s previous — dividend of $0.03. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. BRF’s payout ratio is currently 16.28%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BRF

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in BRF by 534.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,623,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,816,000 after purchasing an additional 3,894,533 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in BRF by 56.5% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,692,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,170,000 after buying an additional 2,056,054 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in BRF by 660.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,208,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after buying an additional 1,049,373 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in BRF in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,133,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in BRF in the second quarter valued at approximately $927,000. 4.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.