Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF – Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 2,043.33 ($25.41).

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABF shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Associated British Foods to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from GBX 2,150 ($26.74) to GBX 2,250 ($27.99) in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Associated British Foods from GBX 1,400 ($17.41) to GBX 1,900 ($23.63) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Associated British Foods from GBX 1,680 ($20.90) to GBX 1,760 ($21.89) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Associated British Foods from GBX 2,000 ($24.88) to GBX 2,300 ($28.61) and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 1,750 ($21.77) target price on shares of Associated British Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th.

Associated British Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

Associated British Foods stock opened at GBX 1,832.38 ($22.79) on Friday. Associated British Foods has a twelve month low of GBX 1,223 ($15.21) and a twelve month high of GBX 2,076 ($25.82). The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 1,946.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 1,822.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.61. The firm has a market capitalization of £14.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,954.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.21.

Associated British Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be given a GBX 14.20 ($0.18) dividend. This represents a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. Associated British Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4,680.85%.

About Associated British Foods

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Associated British Foods plc operates as a diversified food, ingredients, and retail company worldwide. It operates through five segments: Grocery, Sugar, Agriculture, Ingredients, 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.