Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Shares Down 26.1% – What’s Next?

Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL)’s share price was down 26.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 2,252 ($29.80) and last traded at GBX 2,276 ($30.12). Approximately 120,840,211 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 2,917% from the average daily volume of 4,005,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,078 ($40.74).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BNZL. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($37.06) target price on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a research report on Monday, March 31st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 3,375 ($44.67).

Bunzl Stock Down 26.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of £7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 3,114.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 3,338.11.

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

Bunzl Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a GBX 53.80 ($0.71) dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bunzl news, insider Frank van Zanten bought 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 3,037 ($40.19) per share, with a total value of £121,480 ($160,772.90). 0.84% of the stock is 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.