Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) Trading Down 11.4% – Time to Sell?

Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) shares dropped 11.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 1,891 and last traded at GBX 1,904.96. Approximately 6,923,978 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 9,214,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,151.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Associated British Foods from GBX 2,215 to GBX 2,095 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Associated British Foods from GBX 1,830 to GBX 1,840 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Associated British Foods to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from GBX 2,130 to GBX 2,000 in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of GBX 2,058.75.

Associated British Foods Stock Down 12.0%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 2,149.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 2,150.33. The company has a market capitalization of £13.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.88, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported GBX 174.90 earnings per share for the quarter. Associated British Foods had a return on equity of 13.07% and a net margin of 7.25%. On average, research analysts predict that Associated British Foods plc will post 188.0990415 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eoin Tonge sold 34,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,103, for a total transaction of £732,222.54. Also, insider George G. Weston sold 43,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,103, for a total transaction of £918,169.80. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.