Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Trading Down 11% - What's Next?

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS - Get Free Report) shares 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 traded hands during 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 Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed 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 Down 9.5 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 63.04 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 59.84. The firm has a market cap of £145.10 million, a P/E 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 disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a GBX 5.40 ($0.07) dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This is an increase from Smiths News's previous dividend of $1.75. Smiths News's dividend payout ratio is presently 5,555.56%.

Insider Activity at Smiths News

In related news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the company's 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 Deborah Rabey acquired 20,663 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($16,017.83). Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258. 13.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.