Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 9.5% – Time to Sell?

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS)’s share price was down 9.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61.20 ($0.75). Approximately 1,615,870 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 37% from the average daily volume of 1,183,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.60 ($0.83).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smiths News Stock Down 4.6 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 63.07 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 59.83. The stock has a market capitalization 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.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.74), for a total value of £194,947.46 ($238,031.09). Also, insider Deborah Rabey purchased 20,663 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258. 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.