Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on JBS (NYSE:JBS)

Jbs N.V. (NYSE:JBS) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 2,594 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 60% compared to the typical volume of 1,619 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on JBS shares. Stephens dropped their target price on JBS from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on JBS from $18.00 to $17.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on JBS from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of JBS from $17.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of JBS from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.42.

Insider Activity at JBS

In other news, CFO Guilherme Cavalcanti sold 183,501 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.85, for a total value of $2,541,488.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of JBS by 117.1% during the 1st 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of JBS in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,866,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of JBS during the 4th quarter valued at $24,209,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in JBS in the fourth quarter worth $12,359,000. Finally, Ovata Capital Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of JBS by 1,724.2% during the 4th quarter. Ovata Capital Management Ltd now owns 499,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,210,000 after purchasing an additional 472,575 shares in the last quarter.

JBS Price Performance

Shares of JBS opened at $10.87 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.00 and a 200-day moving average of $13.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.51, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of -1.43. JBS has a 1 year low of $10.61 and a 1 year high of $18.65.

JBS (NYSE:JBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $23.90 billion during the quarter. JBS had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 12.00%. The company’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that JBS will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

JBS Company Profile

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.