Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter.

Associated British Foods Stock Performance

LON:ABF traded down GBX 16.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting GBX 1,877.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,528,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,454,591. The stock has a market capitalization of £13.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 1,851.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 1,926.49. 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 current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.63.

Key Stories 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

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Associated British Foods to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from GBX 2,050 to GBX 1,850 in a research note on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,940 to GBX 1,780 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 1,650 target price on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Shore Capital Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,925 to GBX 1,850 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of GBX 1,708.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Loraine Woodhouse acquired 1,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 1,853 per share, for a total transaction of £19,901.22. 1.52% of the stock is currently 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.