Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 11% – Here’s Why

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) was down 11% during mid-day 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 changed hands 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 ($0.84).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smiths News Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of £142.65 million, a P/E ratio of 668.53, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 62.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 59.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 6th. Shareholders 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 represents a yield of 9.47%. This is a positive change from Smiths News’s previous dividend of $1.75. Smiths News’s payout ratio is currently 5,555.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 1,183,423 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £721,888.03 ($892,321.42). Also, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the company’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 ($240,973.37). Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258. 13.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.