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

Key Points

• Associated British Foods received an average “Reduce” rating from seven brokerages, with three sell ratings and four holds. The average 12-month price target is GBX 1,808.57.
• Several analysts recently cut or maintained their price targets, including JPMorgan at GBX 1,700 and Deutsche Bank at GBX 1,850, while Jefferies maintained an “underperform” rating with a GBX 1,650 target.
• The shares were reported down 10%, opening at GBX 1,817.50—below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company reported quarterly EPS of GBX 174.90 and revenue of GBX 1,945.90 billion.

Shares of Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,808.57.

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,780 to GBX 1,700 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Shore Capital Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a GBX 2,010 target price on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a GBX 2,050 target price on shares of Associated British Foods in a report on Friday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Associated British Foods from GBX 1,925 to GBX 1,850 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a GBX 1,650 price target on shares of Associated British Foods in a report on Wednesday, July 1st.

Associated British Foods Stock Down 10.0%

Shares of Associated British Foods stock opened at GBX 1,817.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of £12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of GBX 2,034.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 1,927.62. Associated British Foods has a 1 year low of GBX 1,729.45 and a 1 year high of GBX 2,359.

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

Associated British Foods Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.