Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) Posts Earnings Results

Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported GBX 174.90 earnings per share for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. Associated British Foods had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 8.44%. The company had revenue of GBX 1,945.90 billion for the quarter.

Associated British Foods Stock Performance

Associated British Foods stock traded down GBX 12.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching GBX 1,881.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,374,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,453,257. Associated British Foods has a 12-month low of GBX 1,729.45 and a 12-month high of GBX 2,359. The company has a market capitalization of £13.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.63, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 1,851.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 1,926.49.

Key Headlines Impacting Associated British Foods

Here are the key news stories impacting Associated British Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UK competition authorities have approved ABF’s £75 million Hovis acquisition, clearing the way for the deal to close and boosting ABF’s strategic position in UK bread. ABF Receives Regulatory Clearance for Hovis Acquisition (ABF)
• Positive Sentiment: The merger would combine two major UK bakery brands and could create the country’s biggest bread business, potentially improving scale and pricing power. Kingsmill owner cleared to create UK’s biggest bread brand with Hovis takeover
• Neutral Sentiment: Citi also trimmed its price target on ABF and kept a sell rating, which may temper some of the optimism around the stock. Broker Views

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,940 to GBX 1,780 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shore Capital Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,450 to GBX 1,410 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,925 to GBX 1,850 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Associated British Foods to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from GBX 2,050 to GBX 1,850 in a report on Monday, April 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of GBX 1,708.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated British Foods news, insider Loraine Woodhouse acquired 1,074 shares of Associated British Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 1,853 per share, for a total transaction of £19,901.22. Corporate insiders own 1.52% 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.