Associated British Foods (ABF) Stock Price, Fundamentals & Analysis

What ABF does

Associated British Foods (ABF) is a diversified international company operating in the food, ingredients, and retail sectors. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange stocks and is part of the FTSE 100. The company runs five business segments: Retail (clothing and accessories through the Primark and Penneys chains), Grocery (hot beverages, oils, vinegars, baked goods, cereals, and meat products), Ingredients (yeast, bakery ingredients, enzymes, and pharmaceutical delivery systems), Sugar (sugar beet and cane processing), and Agriculture (animal feed and specialty ingredients).

Key numbers explained

• 18.61 GBP is the current share price, representing the cost to buy one share on the London Stock Exchange.
• The trailing P/E ratio of 14 compares the share price to the last 12 months of earnings per share (1.33 GBP), showing how much investors pay for each pound of earnings.
• The forward P/E ratio of 12.5 uses expected future earnings, often considered a more forward-looking valuation measure.
• The dividend yield of 3.39% indicates the annual dividend payment as a percentage of the share price; the exDividendDate is May 28, 2026.
• 47% of earnings are paid out as dividends, a metric known as the payout ratio.
• Beta of 0.8 suggests the share has historically been less volatile than the overall market.
• The 52-week price range is 17.29 – 23.59 GBP, with the current price near the lower end of that range.
• The price-to-book ratio of 115.27 compares the market price to the company's book value per share, a high figure often seen in companies with significant intangible assets or brand value.

What to watch

• Revenue growth of -0.4% year over year and a profitMargin of 4.9% reflect the company's current top-line and margin dynamics.
• The debt-to-equity ratio of 32.2% provides a sense of financial leverage relative to equity.
• The returnOnEquity of 8.5% measures how effectively the company generates profit from shareholders' equity.
• As a major grocery and retail player, ABF competes with peers such as Tesco (TSCO), Coca-Cola HBC (CCH), British American Tobacco (BATS), Reckitt (RKT), Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), Bunzl (BNZL), and Unilever (ULVR).
• The next earnings report is scheduled for Nov 3, 2026, a key date for updated financial results.