Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Trading Down 9.5% - Should You Sell?

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS - Get Free Report) shares fell 9.5% during mid-day 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).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a GBX 95 ($1.17) price target on shares of Smiths News in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of £145.10 million, a PE ratio of 680.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 63.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 59.84.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a dividend yield of 9.47%. This is a positive change from Smiths News's previous dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Smiths News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5,555.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Smiths News news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction dated 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). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 1,183,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total transaction of £721,888.03 ($888,258.93). Insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258 over the last quarter. 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.