Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 9.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) dropped 9.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61.20 ($0.76). Approximately 1,615,870 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 37% from the average daily volume of 1,183,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.84).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 95 ($1.17) target price on shares of Smiths News in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 62.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 59.83. The company has a market cap of £145.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 680.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a GBX 5.40 ($0.07) dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a yield of 9.47%. This is a positive change from Smiths News’s previous dividend of $1.75. Smiths News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5,555.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Deborah Rabey bought 20,663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, for a total transaction of £13,017.69 ($16,091.09). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 1,183,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £721,888.03 ($892,321.42). In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258. 13.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Smiths News Company Profile

In 1792 we started delivering the nation’s newspapers. Today, we’re proud to be the UK’s largest wholesaler of newspapers and magazines, serving 24,000 retailers from superstores to corner shops.

Service and efficiency put us at the forefront of our industry and with 55% market share we are the leading player in one of the world’s fastest-moving supply chains.