One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$11.90 our estimate vs market $5.27
Wall Street consensus: $8.00 (-32.8% lower than our fair-value estimate)
56% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Acco Brands Corporation
ACCO · NYQ · Industrials · Business Equipment & Supplies
Current price
$5.27
52-week range
$2.81 - $5.85
Market cap
$486.64M
Balance sheet
Stretched
2.34x Stretched
Net debt $774.60M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 2.8% last year.
- Reward Returns 9.9% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 6.9% to 2.8% over 3 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 2.7% (peer median: 3.1%).
What this company does
Acco Brands Corporation
Acco Brands Corporation makes everyday items like notebooks and staplers, plus computer accessories and planners, selling them under popular names like Mead and Kensington. Their sales mainly come from these widely recognized brands across various stores, which is important because it means they have a good reach with consumers who already know and trust their products. This broad distribution helps them sell a lot of different things, from school supplies to office gadgets, and their success depends on efficiently managing the flow of these products from where they are made to where people buy them (their supply chain).
How the company got here
ACCO Brands Corporation has a long history, tracing its roots back to 1893. It was originally known as ACCO World Corporation before changing its name in August 2005. Over the decades, the company has grown and evolved, becoming a significant player in the business equipment and supplies industry. This journey has involved strategic decisions to expand its product offerings and global reach, shaping it into the diversified company it is today.
What it actually does
ACCO Brands designs, makes, and sells a wide variety of everyday products for consumers, schools, and offices. Think of things like notebooks and planners for jotting down ideas, staplers and hole punches for organizing papers, and even shredders and laminators for keeping documents secure and professional. They also offer accessories for computers and gaming, as well as whiteboards and art supplies, making their products useful in many different settings.
ACCO Brands Americas
This part of ACCO Brands focuses on selling a broad range of products across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and parts of South America. It's a major contributor to the company's overall business, offering everything from school supplies like Five Star notebooks to office essentials such as Swingline staplers and Kensington computer accessories. These products are sold through many different types of stores, from big box retailers to smaller specialty shops, reaching a wide customer base.
ACCO Brands International
This segment handles ACCO Brands' business outside of the Americas, covering Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. It offers a similar variety of products, including well-known brands like Leitz binders and GBC binding machines, alongside local favorites in different regions. This international presence allows the company to tap into diverse markets and cater to the specific needs of customers around the globe, contributing significantly to its revenue.
What management is betting on now
Management is focused on growing its core businesses and expanding its reach in key markets. A significant part of their strategy involves strengthening their brands, such as Five Star for school supplies and Kensington for tech accessories, to maintain customer loyalty. They are also likely looking for ways to innovate and adapt their product lines to meet changing consumer needs and technological advancements, ensuring the company remains competitive in the long term.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Revenue
$380.30M
Net income
$11.50M
Diluted EPS
0.12
Operating cash flow
$131.40M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$415.10M
Net income
$14.10M
Diluted EPS
0.15
Operating cash flow
$-35.30M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$343.70M
Net income
$19.40M
Diluted EPS
0.20
Operating cash flow
$3.50M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$428.80M
Net income
$21.30M
Diluted EPS
0.23
Operating cash flow
$30.60M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$383.70M
Net income
$4.00M
Diluted EPS
0.04
Operating cash flow
$71.50M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$394.80M
Net income
$29.20M
Diluted EPS
0.31
Operating cash flow
$-38.90M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$317.40M
Net income
$-13.20M
Diluted EPS
-0.14
Operating cash flow
$5.50M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$448.10M
Net income
$20.60M
Diluted EPS
0.21
Operating cash flow
$52.70M
Free cash flow
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $11.90 vs current price $5.27
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $8.00 (-32.8% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $11.90 a share — about 125.7% above today's price of $5.27, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $774.6M. Interest coverage 2.3x.
Net debt
$774.60M
Interest coverage
2.34x
Acco Brands Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 2.3 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
ACCO
BASELINE
Acco Brands Corporation
Total debt $949.30M Interest coverage 2.34x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $1.66B Interest coverage 6.72x +187% vs ACCO Carries about 2.9x more debt cushion than ACCO.
Total debt $1.82B Interest coverage 3.01x +29% vs ACCO Carries about 1.3x more debt cushion than ACCO.
Total debt $37.04M Interest coverage 12.20x +422% vs ACCO Carries about 5.2x more debt cushion than ACCO.
Total debt $2.00B Interest coverage 3.81x +63% vs ACCO Carries about 1.6x more debt cushion than ACCO.
What you should know
The case for and against ACCO
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 2.8% last year.
-
Returns 9.9% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Operating margin compressed from 6.9% to 2.8% over 3 years.
-
Insider ownership is only 2.7% (peer median: 3.1%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
7.53x
Forward P/E
5.47x
P/B
0.71x
P/S
0.31x
EV/EBITDA
8.80x
PEG ratio
0.93x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
32.2%
Operating margin
2.8%
Net margin
4.2%
ROE
9.9%
ROA
2.5%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.38x
Current ratio
1.89x
Quick ratio
1.10x
Total debt
$949.30M
Total cash
$174.70M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.57B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-6.9%
EPS TTM
0.70
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$130.20M
Free CF TTM
$50.80M
FCF margin
3.2%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
5.7%
Payout ratio
42.9%
Last ex-div date
2026-11-20