Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 3,375 ($44.72).

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Richard Howes acquired 8,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 2,338 ($30.98) per share, with a total value of £198,239.02 ($262,672.61). Also, insider Frank van Zanten acquired 4,000 shares of Bunzl stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 3,037 ($40.24) per share, for a total transaction of £121,480 ($160,964.62). 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bunzl Trading Up 1.2 %

BNZL opened at GBX 2,397.57 ($31.77) on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 3,004.66 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 3,293.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.00. Bunzl has a 12 month low of GBX 2,218 ($29.39) and a 12 month high of GBX 3,732 ($49.45). The firm has a market cap of £7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.57) EPS for the quarter. Bunzl had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 4.20%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bunzl will post 213.3413462 EPS 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 paid 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Bunzl’s payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

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.