Bunzl's (BNZL) Hold Rating Reiterated at Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a Hold on Bunzl with a GBX 2,350 target, implying about a 2.45% downside from the stock's previous close.
• Analyst consensus is cautious—MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Reduce" with an average price target of GBX 2,338 and mixed broker views (one Buy, two Hold, two Sell).
• The stock traded at GBX 2,409 mid-day (above consensus targets) with a market cap of £7.73bn and a P/E of 17.1, while insider Richard Howes purchased 8,267 shares at GBX 2,299.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating restated by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Digital Look reports. They currently have a GBX 2,350 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective would indicate a potential downside of 2.45% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a GBX 2,200 price target on shares of Bunzl in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and issued a GBX 1,900 price objective on shares of Bunzl in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of GBX 2,338.

Bunzl Price Performance

Shares of LON BNZL traded up GBX 29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting GBX 2,409. 2,097,301 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,957,394. The company has a market cap of £7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.29. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is GBX 2,229.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 2,201.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.39. Bunzl has a twelve month low of GBX 1,981 and a twelve month high of GBX 2,609.33.

Bunzl (LON:BNZL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported GBX 179.30 earnings per share for the quarter. Bunzl had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 17.21%. As a group, analysts forecast that Bunzl will post 213.3413462 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Bunzl

In other Bunzl news, insider Richard Howes purchased 8,267 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 2,299 per share, with a total value of £190,058.33. Insiders own 0.38% 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. It also provides food packaging, disposable tableware, guest amenities, catering equipment, agricultural supplies, cleaning and hygiene products, and safety items to hotels, restaurants, contract caterers, food processors, commercial growers, and the leisure sector; and gloves, boots, hard hats, ear and eye protection, and other workwear, as well as cleaning and hygiene supplies, and asset protection products to industrial and construction, and ecommerce sectors.

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