JBS (NYSE:JBS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Jbs N.V. (NYSE:JBS) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $12.02, but opened at $12.32. JBS shares last traded at $12.3480, with a volume of 811,757 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JBS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on JBS from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen cut JBS from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of JBS from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of JBS from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of JBS from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.42.

JBS Trading Up 2.8%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $12.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.74. The company has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of -1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51.

JBS (NYSE:JBS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.12). JBS had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 12.00%. The business had revenue of $23.90 billion for the quarter. The company’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Jbs N.V. will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other JBS news, CFO Guilherme Cavalcanti sold 183,501 shares of JBS stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.85, for a total transaction of $2,541,488.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Trading of JBS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of JBS by 117.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 7,687,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,072,000 after buying an additional 4,147,304 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of JBS by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 4,622,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,656,000 after acquiring an additional 388,200 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of JBS by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,782,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,982,000 after acquiring an additional 289,771 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP bought a new position in shares of JBS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,209,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in JBS in the second quarter valued at approximately $21,866,000.

About JBS

JBS SA is a Brazil-based food company focused on the processing and production of animal protein and prepared foods. Its operations include beef, pork, poultry, and lamb processing, as well as the manufacture of value-added products such as frozen and prepared meals, bacon, sausages, deli meats, and other convenience foods. The company also produces leather and other related byproducts.

Founded in 1953 by José Batista Sobrinho in Anápolis, Brazil, JBS has grown from a local cattle-slaughtering business into a multinational food company.