Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Trading Down 24.4% – Time to Sell?

Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL) shares were down 24.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,218 ($29.43) and last traded at GBX 2,327.73 ($30.88). Approximately 5,287,830 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 115% from the average daily volume of 2,465,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,078 ($40.84).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BNZL shares. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup raised Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 3,375 ($44.78).

Bunzl Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of £7.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is GBX 3,071.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 3,319.24.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.58) EPS for the quarter. Bunzl had a net margin of 4.20% and a return on equity of 16.82%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bunzl plc will post 213.3413462 EPS for the current year.

Bunzl Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Richard Howes purchased 8,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,338 ($31.02) per share, for a total transaction of £198,239.02 ($263,021.12). Also, insider Frank van Zanten acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 3,037 ($40.29) per share, with a total value of £121,480 ($161,178.19). Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.