Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,894 ($37.43) and last traded at GBX 2,898 ($37.49), with a volume of 946116 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 2,966 ($38.37).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BNZL. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($36.22) target price on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Bunzl from GBX 3,980 ($51.48) to GBX 4,150 ($53.68) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 3,375 ($43.66).

Bunzl Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of £9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 3,312.23 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 3,414.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.00.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.51) EPS for the quarter. Bunzl had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 4.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bunzl plc will post 213.3413462 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Bunzl

In related news, insider Frank van Zanten acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 3,037 ($39.28) per share, for a total transaction of £121,480 ($157,133.62). 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.