Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Trading Down 9.8% – Here’s Why

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) shares traded down 9.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61 ($0.74). 3,662,190 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 140% from the average session volume of 1,524,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.83).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smiths News Trading Down 4.6 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 63.07 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 59.83. The firm has a market cap of £138.46 million, a PE ratio of 648.89, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Deborah Rabey acquired 20,663 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 490,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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). Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258. 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.