Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Trading Down 26.8% – Should You Sell?

Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL)’s stock price dropped 26.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 2,230 ($29.51) and last traded at GBX 2,254 ($29.83). Approximately 123,020,359 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 2,949% from the average daily volume of 4,034,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 3,078 ($40.74).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BNZL shares. Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a report on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 2,800 ($37.06) target price on shares of Bunzl in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 3,375 ($44.67).

Bunzl Stock Down 24.4 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 3,114.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 3,338.11. The stock has a market cap of £7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. 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 (LON:BNZL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Bunzl plc will post 213.3413462 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bunzl Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a yield of 1.8%. Bunzl’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bunzl

In other Bunzl news, insider Frank van Zanten purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 3,037 ($40.19) per share, for a total transaction of £121,480 ($160,772.90). Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.