Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Trading Down 23% – What’s Next?

Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL) shares fell 23% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,252 ($29.80) and last traded at GBX 2,370 ($31.37). 121,346,578 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 2,924% from the average session volume of 4,012,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,078 ($40.74).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BNZL. Citigroup upgraded Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 2,800 ($37.06) price objective on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 3,375 ($44.67).

Bunzl Stock Down 23.8 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 3,114.16 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 3,338.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.00. The stock has a market cap of £7.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Bunzl had a net margin of 4.20% and a return on equity of 16.82%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bunzl plc will post 213.3413462 earnings per share for the current year.

Bunzl Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of GBX 53.80 ($0.71) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Bunzl’s previous dividend of $20.10. Bunzl’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bunzl

In related news, insider Frank van Zanten acquired 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 3,037 ($40.19) per share, with a total value of £121,480 ($160,772.90). Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

About Bunzl

Bunzl plc operates as a distribution and services company in the North America, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally. The company offers food packaging, films, labels, cleaning and hygiene supplies, and personal protection equipment to grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores.