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

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) shares were down 9.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61.20 ($0.76). Approximately 1,615,870 shares changed hands 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 ($0.84).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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 Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 62.96 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 59.83. The company has a market cap of £145.10 million, a PE ratio of 680.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Smiths News

In related 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 transaction of £194,947.46 ($240,973.37). Also, insider Deborah Rabey bought 20,663 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($16,091.09). 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.