Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 9.5% – Should You Sell?

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) shares traded 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 ($0.75). 1,615,870 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 37% from the average session volume of 1,183,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.83).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smiths News Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 63.07 and its 200 day moving average price is 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 company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a GBX 5.40 ($0.07) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This is an increase from Smiths News’s previous dividend of $1.75. Smiths News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5,555.56%.

Insider Transactions at Smiths News

In related news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.74), for a total value of £194,947.46 ($238,031.09). Also, insider Deborah Rabey acquired 20,663 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, for a total transaction of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). Insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258 over the last ninety days. 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.