Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 9.5% – Here’s What Happened

Posted by Lauren Steadman on Jan 9th, 2025

Shares of Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS – Get Free Report) were down 9.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 59.40 ($0.73) and last traded at GBX 61.20 ($0.76). 1,615,870 shares were traded 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 ($0.84).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 95 ($1.17) 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is GBX 62.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 59.83. The stock has a market capitalization of £145.10 million, a PE ratio of 680.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Smiths News’s previous dividend of $1.75. This represents a yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Smiths News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5,555.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Deborah Rabey bought 20,663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 63 ($0.78) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($16,091.09). Also, insider Jonathan Bunting sold 490,569 shares of the 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 ($369,897.52). In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,993,578 shares of company stock worth $121,608,258. Corporate 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.