Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Shares 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 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).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 95 ($1.16) target price on shares of Smiths News in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Price Performance

The company has a market cap of £138.46 million, a PE ratio of 648.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 63.07 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 59.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 1,183,423 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.74), for a total transaction of £721,888.03 ($881,426.17). Also, insider Deborah Rabey acquired 20,663 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). Insiders have sold a total of 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258 in the last 90 days. Company 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.