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

Shares of Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) were down 9.5% during 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 traded 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 issued a GBX 95 ($1.17) price objective on shares of Smiths News in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Stock Down 9.5 %

The stock has a market cap of £145.10 million, a PE ratio of 680.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 62.96 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 59.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Deborah Rabey acquired 20,663 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was acquired 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 490,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £299,247.09 ($369,897.52). Insiders sold a total of 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

About Smiths News

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.