Brokerages Set WH Smith PLC (LON:SMWH) PT at GBX 868.60

Shares of WH Smith PLC (LON:SMWH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 868.60.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SMWH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on WH Smith from GBX 750 to GBX 800 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Peel Hunt restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 800 price objective on shares of WH Smith in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut their price objective on WH Smith from GBX 700 to GBX 667 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Max Izzard acquired 25,000 shares of WH Smith stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 675 per share, with a total value of £168,750. Also, insider Helen Rose acquired 7,972 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 627 per share, with a total value of £49,984.44. Insiders bought a total of 32,992 shares of company stock worth $21,886,244 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

WH Smith Stock Up 0.4%

LON:SMWH opened at GBX 678 on Friday. WH Smith has a one year low of GBX 585.50 and a one year high of GBX 1,199. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 253.13, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of £845.43 million, a PE ratio of -5.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 659.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 701.73.

WH Smith (LON:SMWH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The company reported GBX (14.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. WH Smith had a net margin of 3.44% and a return on equity of 17.78%. On average, research analysts anticipate that WH Smith will post 100.9372747 earnings per share for the current year.

About WH Smith

WH Smith PLC operates as a retailer in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in two segments, Travel and High Street. The Travel segment offers news, books, and convenience for travelling customers. It operates stores in airports, hospitals, railway stations, and motorway service areas. The High Street segment sells stationery products, including greeting cards, general stationery, art and craft, and gifting products; news and impulse products, such as newspapers, magazines, confectionery, and drinks; and books.