Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Trading Up 3.2% – Time to Buy?

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS) rose 3.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as GBX 64.60 ($0.81) and last traded at GBX 64.60 ($0.81). Approximately 322,837 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 581,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 62.60 ($0.79).

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 95 ($1.19) price objective on shares of Smiths News in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Smiths News Stock Up 3.2 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 60.65 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 59.19. The firm has a market cap of £153.16 million, a P/E ratio of 717.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Smiths News Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Smiths News news, insider Paul Baker sold 319,586 shares of Smiths News stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 61 ($0.77), for a total transaction of £194,947.46 ($245,001.21). Also, insider Deborah Rabey bought 20,663 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 63 ($0.79) per share, with a total value of £13,017.69 ($16,360.05). Insiders sold a total of 1,993,578 shares of company stock valued at $121,608,258 in the last ninety days. 13.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Smiths News

Smiths News plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distributing of newspapers and magazines in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates through Smiths News Core, Dawson Media Direct, Instore, and Other businesses segments. The company supplies inflight entertainment to airlines and travel points.