Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) Shares Down 13.2% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Associated British Foods' shares experienced a significant decline, dropping by 13.2% during mid-day trading, with the stock last trading at GBX 1,945.50 ($26.32).
• Analyst opinions are mixed, with Shore Capital maintaining a "buy" rating, while Deutsche Bank downgraded to "sell" and lowered the price target to GBX 2,130.
• The company has a market capitalization of £13.84 billion and has recently seen insider selling, with 1.49% of the stock owned by insiders.

Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 13.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 1,928.50 ($26.15) and last traded at GBX 1,945.50 ($26.38). Approximately 2,909,437 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 3,829,985 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,241 ($30.39).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Associated British Foods to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from GBX 2,220 to GBX 2,130 in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Shore Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Associated British Foods currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of GBX 2,215.

Associated British Foods Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is GBX 2,190.23 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 2,082.86. The company has a market capitalization of £13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,106.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.88, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Insider Transactions at Associated British Foods

In other Associated British Foods news, insider Eoin Tonge sold 16,741 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,070, for a total transaction of £346,538.70. Corporate insiders own 1.49% 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.