Associated British Foods (ABF) Share Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Associated British Foods plc operates as a diversified food, ingredients, and retail company worldwide. It operates through five segments: Grocery, Ingredients, Agriculture, Sugar, and Retail. The Grocery segment manufactures and sells grocery products, including hot beverages, sugar and sweeteners, vegetable oils, balsamic vinegars, bread and baked goods, cereals, ethnic foods, and meat products to retail, wholesale, and foodservice businesses. The Ingredients segment manufactures bakers' yeast, bakery ingredients, enzymes, lipids, yeast extracts, and cereal specialties. The Agriculture segment manufactures and sells animal feeds; and provides other products and services for the agriculture sector. The Sugar segment is involved in growing, processing, and selling sugar beet and sugar cane to industrial users. The Retail segment is involved in buying and merchandising clothing and accessories through the Primark and Penneys retail chains, which offer women's, men's, and kids wear, as well as beauty, homeware, and accessories. The company was incorporated in 1934 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. Associated British Foods plc operates as a subsidiary of Wittington Investments Limited.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: 2,053.29 to 2,093
• 50-Day Range: 2,072 to 2,377
• 52-Week Range: 2,053.29 to 2,770.66
• Volume: 1.12 million shs
• Average Volume: 1.67 million shs
• Market Capitalization: £15.38 billion
• P/E Ratio: 1,337.42
• Dividend Yield: 2.58%
• Price Target: GBX 2,220
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Associated British Foods Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Associated British Foods scored higher than 15% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Associated British Foods has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.00, and is based on 1 buy rating, 1 hold rating, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Associated British Foods has received no research coverage in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: N/A

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Associated British Foods is 1,337.42, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 134.78.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Associated British Foods is 1,337.42, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Defensive sector average P/E ratio of about 212.11.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Associated British Foods has a PEG Ratio of 1.51. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Associated British Foods has a P/B Ratio of 1.43. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: N/A
• Short Interest Level: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for ABF.

Dividend

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Associated British Foods pays a meaningful dividend of 2.26%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Associated British Foods does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Associated British Foods is 3,483.87%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 2.3 / 5
• Environmental Score: -3.11

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for ABF.

News and Social Media

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.02

News Sentiment

Associated British Foods has a news sentiment score of 0.02. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.26 average news sentiment score of Consumer Defensive companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 2 news articles for Associated British Foods this week, compared to 1 article on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Associated British Foods insiders have sold 1,130.70% more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought £99,477.96 in company stock and sold £1,224,271.33 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

58.08% of the stock of Associated British Foods is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

Only 18.54% of the stock of Associated British Foods is held by institutions.

ABF Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have ABF shares performed this year?

Associated British Foods' stock was trading at GBX 2,367 at the beginning of 2024. Since then, ABF shares have decreased by 11.7% and is now trading at GBX 2,090.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were Associated British Foods' earnings last quarter?

Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April, 21st. The company reported $61.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $61.20 by $0.60. Associated British Foods had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 5.92%.

How do I buy shares of Associated British Foods?

Shares of ABF stock and other U.K. stocks can be purchased through online brokerage accounts that support trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSX). Some U.K. companies can be purchased through major U.S. brokerages in the form of American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which are placeholder equities held in a trust by a bank that represent shares of a foreign stock.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of Associated British Foods own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Associated British Foods investors own include Intelsat (I), Bank of America (BAC), Chaarat Gold (CGH), Fossil Group (FOSL), AMC Entertainment (AMC), HSBC (HSBA) and First Data (FDC).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/21/2020
• Ex-Dividend for 1/10 Dividend: 12/12/2024
• Today: 12/18/2024
• Dividend Payable: 1/10/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: LON
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Industry: Packaged Foods
• Sub-Industry: N/A
• Current Symbol: LON:ABF
• CUSIP: N/A
• CIK: N/A
• Web: www.abf.co.uk
• Phone: +44-20-73996500
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 133,000
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: GBX 2,220
• High Stock Price Target: GBX 2,250
• Low Stock Price Target: GBX 2,190
• Potential Upside/Downside: +7.1%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.00
• Research Coverage: 3 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): GBX 1.55
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 1,337.42
• Forward P/E Ratio: 11.02
• P/E Growth: 1.51
• Net Income: £1.18 billion
• Net Margins: 5.92%
• Pretax Margin: N/A
• Return on Equity: 10.69%
• Return on Assets: 5.51%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 33.71
• Current Ratio: 1.79
• Quick Ratio: 0.93

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: £19.92 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.77
• Cash Flow: GBX 337.67 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 6.14
• Book Value: GBX 1,461 per share
• Price / Book: 1.42

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 735,850,000
• Free Float: N/A
• Market Cap: £15.25 billion
• Optionable: Not Optionable
• Beta: 1.24