Associated British Foods’ (ABF) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Shore Capital Group

Shore Capital Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) in a report released on Friday,London Stock Exchange reports.

ABF has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 1,650 price target on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Associated British Foods from GBX 2,100 to GBX 1,925 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Associated British Foods from GBX 2,095 to GBX 1,940 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Associated British Foods from GBX 1,830 to GBX 1,710 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Associated British Foods presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of GBX 1,806.25.

Associated British Foods Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of LON ABF opened at GBX 1,828 on Friday. Associated British Foods has a 1 year low of GBX 1,729.45 and a 1 year high of GBX 2,359. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 1,895.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 2,036.86. The company has a market cap of £12.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.33, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Trending Headlines about Associated British Foods

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

• Positive Sentiment: CMA clears the Hovis deal in Great Britain, removing a major regulatory obstacle in the GB market and improving the likelihood of realizing cost and distribution synergies there. ABF’s Hovis merger cleared by CMA in Britain
• Neutral Sentiment: Shore Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on ABF, signalling limited broker enthusiasm and potentially capping short-term upside until regulatory clarity improves. London Stock Exchange broker ratings
• Negative Sentiment: UK competition regulator flags competition concerns over the Hovis acquisition in Northern Ireland — this raises the prospect of remedies, divestitures or delays specific to NI that could complicate or reduce expected deal benefits. CMA finds competition concerns over ABF’s acquisition of Hovis in Northern Ireland but not Great Britain
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage says the deal “hits a snag” and that failure or heavy remedies could put ABF’s bakery arm at risk — heightening execution risk and uncertainty around integration value if Northern Ireland remedies are onerous. ABF — Hovis merger hits snag
• Negative Sentiment: Media note that proposed bread mergers would leave Northern Ireland with just two commercial bakeries, underpinning the regulator’s scrutiny and the risk of tighter conditions or divestments. Proposed bread mergers ‘would leave Northern Ireland with just two commercial bakeries’

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.