Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as GBX 1,584.88 and last traded at GBX 1,894, with a volume of 942494 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,881.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Associated British Foods from GBX 1,830 to GBX 1,710 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 1,650 price target on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Friday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 2,095 to GBX 1,940 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 2,100 to GBX 1,925 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Shore Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated British Foods has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of GBX 1,905.

Associated British Foods Stock Up 0.6%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 2,054.29 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 2,133.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.88. The stock has a market capitalization of £13.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.24.

Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported GBX 174.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Associated British Foods had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 13.07%. On average, equities analysts expect that Associated British Foods plc will post 188.0990415 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Associated British Foods

In other Associated British Foods news, insider George G. Weston sold 43,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,103, for a total transaction of £918,169.80. Also, insider Eoin Tonge sold 34,818 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,103, for a total value of £732,222.54. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.