Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Trading Down 7.8% – Here’s Why

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS)’s share price traded down 7.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 61 ($0.74) and last traded at GBX 62.32 ($0.76). 2,128,450 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 68% from the average session volume of 1,269,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.83).

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Smiths News Stock Down 4.6 %

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 63.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 59.83. The company has a market capitalization of £138.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 648.89, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Smiths News’s previous dividend of $1.75. This represents a yield of 9.47%. Smiths News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5,555.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smiths News

In related news, insider Deborah Rabey purchased 20,663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, for a total transaction of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 490,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.74), for a total value of £299,247.09 ($365,381.06). Insiders sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258 over the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is currently 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.