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

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS)’s stock price traded down 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 ($0.75). 1,615,870 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the average session volume of 1,183,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.83).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 95 ($1.16) price target on shares of Smiths News in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Trading Down 4.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of £138.46 million, a PE ratio of 648.89, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 63.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 59.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 boost from Smiths News’s previous dividend of $1.75. Smiths News’s dividend payout ratio is 5,555.56%.

Insider Transactions at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Deborah Rabey purchased 20,663 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). Also, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.74), for a total value of £194,947.46 ($238,031.09). In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258. 13.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.