Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) Trading Down 13.2% - Time to Sell?

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) shares dropped 13.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 1,928.50 ($26.19) and last traded at GBX 1,945.50 ($26.42). Approximately 2,909,437 shares were traded 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 ($30.43).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Shore Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Associated British Foods to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the company from GBX 2,220 to GBX 2,130 in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated British Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of GBX 2,215.

Associated British Foods Trading Up 0.7%

The company has a fifty day moving average of GBX 2,192.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 2,079.50. 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 £13.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,099.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated British Foods news, insider Eoin Tonge sold 16,741 shares of Associated British Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,070, for a total value of £346,538.70. Company 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.