Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bunzl plc (LON:BNZL) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is GBX 3,375 ($45.69).

Separately, Shore Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bunzl in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Bunzl Stock Performance

Shares of BNZL opened at GBX 2,376 ($32.16) on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of £7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. Bunzl has a 12-month low of GBX 2,218 ($30.03) and a 12-month high of GBX 3,732 ($50.52). 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’s 50 day moving average is GBX 2,654.65 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 3,116.53.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Bunzl had a return on equity of 16.82% and a net margin of 4.20%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Bunzl will post 213.3413462 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bunzl Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of GBX 53.80 ($0.73) 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. Bunzl’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Bunzl news, insider Richard Howes purchased 8,479 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,338 ($31.65) per share, with a total value of £198,239.02 ($268,362.01). Also, insider Daniela Barone Soares purchased 431 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,307 ($31.23) per share, for a total transaction of £9,943.17 ($13,460.36). In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 12,910 shares of company stock valued at $32,966,219. 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.