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

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS)’s stock price dropped 9.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61.20 ($0.75). Approximately 1,615,870 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the average daily volume of 1,183,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.83).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smiths News Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of £145.10 million, a P/E ratio of 680.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 62.96 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 59.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Smiths News news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £194,947.46 ($239,876.29). Also, insider Deborah Rabey acquired 20,663 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, for a total transaction of £13,017.69 ($16,017.83). Insiders have sold a total of 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

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.