Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Shares Down 11% - Time to Sell?

Shares of Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS - Get Free Report) dropped 11% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 60.17 ($0.74). Approximately 3,049,240 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 114% from the average daily volume of 1,422,657 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) target price on shares of Smiths News in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 63.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 59.84. The stock has a market cap 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.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Smiths News

In other news, insider Deborah Rabey purchased 20,663 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, for a total transaction of £13,017.69 ($16,017.83). Also, 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 ($0.75), for a total value of £194,947.46 ($239,876.29). Insiders have sold a total of 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258 over the last 90 days. 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.