Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 9.5% - Here's Why

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS - Get Free Report) traded down 9.5% on Friday . 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 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 reissued a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 95 ($1.16) price target on shares of Smiths News in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 63.07 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 59.83. The firm has a market cap of £138.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 648.89, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is Thursday, January 9th. Smiths News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5,555.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.74), for a total transaction of £194,947.46 ($238,031.09). Also, insider Deborah Rabey bought 20,663 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, for a total transaction of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258. Corporate 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.