Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Trading Down 23.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL) dropped 23.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,252 ($29.80) and last traded at GBX 2,366 ($31.31). Approximately 121,630,773 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 2,928% from the average daily volume of 4,016,385 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,078 ($40.74).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BNZL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($37.06) price objective on shares of Bunzl in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research 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.com, Bunzl presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 3,375 ($44.67).

Bunzl Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of £7.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 3,114.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 3,338.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

Bunzl Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Bunzl

In related news, insider Frank van Zanten bought 4,000 shares of Bunzl stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 3,037 ($40.19) per share, with a total value of £121,480 ($160,772.90). 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bunzl Company Profile

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.