Bunzl (LON:BNZL) Given Buy Rating at Shore Capital

Shore Capital reissued their buy rating on shares of Bunzl (LON:BNZL) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BNZL. Citigroup upgraded Bunzl to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 2,800 ($36.18) price target on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Bunzl from GBX 3,980 ($51.42) to GBX 4,150 ($53.62) and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 3,375 ($43.60).

Bunzl Price Performance

Shares of BNZL stock opened at GBX 2,966 ($38.32) on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of £9.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 3,231.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 3,389.93. Bunzl has a 12 month low of GBX 2,884 ($37.26) and a 12 month high of GBX 3,732 ($48.22).

Bunzl (LON:BNZL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported GBX 194.30 ($2.51) 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Bunzl Increases Dividend

The firm 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 ($0.70) dividend. This is a positive change from Bunzl’s previous dividend of $20.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. Bunzl’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Frank van Zanten bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 3,037 ($39.24) per share, for a total transaction of £121,480 ($156,950.90). 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.