Kerry Group shares have shown an unusual level of volatility over the past week.

Normally, one of the steadiest performers on the Irish stock exchange, Kerry Group shares plunged as much as 12% in a matter of hours on Thursday last week (11 February) following the publication of an anonymous research note, which was highly critical of Kerry Group’s acquisition strategy.

Almost 1.3m shares in Kerry Group were traded last Thursday, which is five times higher than normal.

Website leak

The website which published the note has since been deleted from the internet and Kerry Group has lodged an official complaint to financial market regulators.

Kerry Group chief financial officer Marguerite Larkin also dismissed the claims made in the research note as utterly false during a conference call with investors this week.

Yet Kerry’s share price has not recovered fully from the hit it took last week. As of lunchtime on Wednesday 17 February, Kerry Group shares were trading at €105, which is down almost 13% since the start of the year.

Investors unconvinced

A note by Goodbody stockbrokers states Kerry did “just about enough” to refute the claims in the research note published last week, but many investors still seem unconvinced given the behaviour of the share price.

After announcing an optimistic outlook for 2021 this week, Kerry shares rallied about 5% on Tuesday morning (16 February) before these gains were steadily eroded after lunch to leave Kerry’s share price down 1% for the day.

Stockbroker analysts believe the recent volatility in Kerry shares is down to increased interest in the company from institutional investors. The steady nature of Kerry’s business typically doesn’t keep its investors awake at night. Yet the joint venture talks with Kerry Co-op have many investors watching Kerry Group closer than ever, which would explain the heightened volatility in the share price this year.