Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Shares Down 9.5% – Here’s Why

11 Jan 2025, 13:52 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS – Get Free Report)’s share price was down 9.5% during mid-day 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 changed hands during mid-day 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 Ratings Changes

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

Read Our Latest Analysis on SNWS

Smiths News Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of £138.46 million, a P/E ratio of 648.89, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 63.07 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 59.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 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 payout ratio is 5,555.56%.

Insider Activity at Smiths News

In other Smiths News news, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 490,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.74), for a total transaction of £299,247.09 ($365,381.06). Also, insider Deborah Rabey acquired 20,663 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.77) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($15,894.62). Insiders sold a total of 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258 over the last quarter. 13.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Smiths News

(Get Free Report)

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.