Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 9.8% – Here’s What Happened

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS)’s stock price traded down 9.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61 ($0.75). 3,662,190 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 140% from the average session volume of 1,524,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.84).

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group restated 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 50 day simple moving average of GBX 62.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 59.83. The stock has a market capitalization of £145.10 million, a P/E ratio of 680.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a GBX 5.40 ($0.07) dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 9.47%. This is an increase from Smiths News’s previous dividend of $1.75. Smiths News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5,555.56%.

Insider Activity at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 1,183,423 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £721,888.03 ($892,321.42). Also, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total transaction of £194,947.46 ($240,973.37). Insiders sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258 over the last three months. 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.