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

Posted by Jim Brewer on Jan 10th, 2025

Shares of Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS – Get Free Report) traded down 9.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61.20 ($0.75). 1,615,870 shares traded hands 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).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SNWS

Smiths News Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of £145.10 million, a PE ratio of 680.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is GBX 63.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 59.84.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5,555.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £194,947.46 ($239,876.29). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 490,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.75), for a total value of £299,247.09 ($368,213.47). In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258. Company insiders own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Smiths News Company Profile

(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.

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.