Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Shares Down 9.5% - Time to Sell?

Shares of Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS - Get Free Report) fell 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 changed hands during 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).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued 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 company has a market capitalization of £145.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 680.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 63.04 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 59.84.

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 given a GBX 5.40 ($0.07) dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 5,555.56%.

Insider Transactions at Smiths News

In other news, insider Deborah Rabey bought 20,663 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($16,017.83). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 490,569 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total transaction of £299,247.09 ($368,213.47). Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258. Insiders own 13.12% of the company's stock.

Smiths News Company Profile

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.