Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Earns “Buy” Rating from Shore Capital

Shore Capital reiterated their buy rating on shares of Bunzl (LON:BNZL) in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

Separately, Citigroup upgraded shares of Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 3,375 ($44.84).

Bunzl Stock Down 1.2 %

Bunzl stock opened at GBX 2,321.04 ($30.84) on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of £7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 123.00, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.15. Bunzl has a fifty-two week low of GBX 2,218 ($29.47) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 3,732 ($49.58). The stock’s fifty day moving average is GBX 2,854.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 3,234.60.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Bunzl had a net margin of 4.20% and a return on equity of 16.82%. Analysts predict that Bunzl will post 213.3413462 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bunzl Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given 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 is Thursday, May 22nd. Bunzl’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.39%.

Insider Activity at Bunzl

In other Bunzl news, insider Daniela Barone Soares acquired 431 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 2,307 ($30.65) per share, for a total transaction of £9,943.17 ($13,210.00). Also, insider Richard Howes bought 8,479 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 2,338 ($31.06) per share, with a total value of £198,239.02 ($263,370.56). Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 12,910 shares of company stock worth $32,966,219. Company 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.