Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Associated British Foods has a consensus analyst recommendation of "Reduce" from seven brokers, with three sell ratings and four hold ratings. The average 1-year target price is GBX 1,788.57.
• Several firms recently trimmed expectations: JPMorgan cut its price target to GBX 1,700, Citigroup lowered its target to GBX 1,410 and kept a sell rating, while Jefferies reiterated an underperform call with a GBX 1,650 target.
• The stock was down 0.2% to GBX 2,011, and the company reported quarterly EPS of GBX 174.90 with revenue of GBX 1,945.90 billion, while analysts forecast full-year EPS of about GBX 188.10.

Shares of Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 1,788.57.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a GBX 1,650 target price on shares of Associated British Foods in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Associated British Foods from GBX 1,780 to GBX 1,700 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on 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. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a GBX 2,050 price objective on shares of Associated British Foods in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Shore Capital Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a GBX 2,010 price objective on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd.

Associated British Foods Stock Down 0.2%

ABF stock opened at GBX 2,011 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of £14.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.80. Associated British Foods has a 52 week low of GBX 1,729.45 and a 52 week high of GBX 2,359. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of GBX 1,906.37 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 1,898.02.

Associated British Foods (LON:ABF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 17th. The company reported GBX 174.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Associated British Foods will post 188.0990415 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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