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

Shares of Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) traded down 9.5% during trading 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 were traded during 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).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set 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 firm has a market cap of £145.10 million, a PE ratio of 680.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 62.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 59.83.

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 of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Smiths News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5,555.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Smiths News news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the firm’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 ($240,973.37). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 1,183,423 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total transaction of £721,888.03 ($892,321.42). Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258. 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.