Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Shares Down 9.8% - Time to Sell?

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 9.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61 ($0.75). 3,662,190 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 140% from the average session volume of 1,524,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.83).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Smiths News Stock Down 9.5 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 63.04 and a two-hundred day 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 price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of GBX 5.40 ($0.07) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This is a boost from Smiths News's previous dividend of $1.75. This represents a dividend yield of 9.47%. Smiths News's dividend payout ratio is 5,555.56%.

Insider Activity at Smiths News

In related news, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 1,183,423 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £721,888.03 ($888,258.93). Also, insider Deborah Rabey bought 20,663 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($16,017.83). Insiders sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258 over the last 90 days. 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.