Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,765.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Associated British Foods to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from GBX 2,050 to GBX 1,850 in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,450 to GBX 1,410 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 1,650 price target on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,940 to GBX 1,780 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Shore Capital Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Friday, April 17th.

Associated British Foods Stock Performance

Shares of ABF opened at GBX 1,978.50 on Friday. Associated British Foods has a twelve month low of GBX 1,729.45 and a twelve month high of GBX 2,359. The company has a market cap of £13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 1,857.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 1,916.18.

Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 17th. The company reported GBX 174.90 earnings per share for the quarter. Associated British Foods had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 8.44%. The business had revenue of GBX 1,945.90 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts expect that Associated British Foods will post 188.0990415 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Loraine Woodhouse purchased 1,074 shares of Associated British Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 1,853 per share, with a total value of £19,901.22. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Associated British Foods

Associated British Foods is a diversified international food, ingredients and retail group with sales of £13.9bn, 128,000 employees and operations in 53 countries across Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia.

Our purpose is to provide safe, nutritious, affordable food, and clothing that is great value for money. With the breadth of our business, our brands and global reach, ABF aims to consistently deliver value to its stakeholders.

Our business is split into five segments: Grocery; Sugar; Agriculture; Ingredients; and Retail.