Smiths News (LON:SNWS) Stock Price Down 9.8% – What’s Next?

Smiths News plc (LON:SNWS)’s share price was down 9.8% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as GBX 71.20 and last traded at GBX 73.26. Approximately 5,007,626 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 597% from the average daily volume of 718,017 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 81.20.

Key Headlines Impacting Smiths News

Here are the key news stories impacting Smiths News this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Smiths News reported national distribution contracts worth £375 million annually, supporting its “Go National” plans and providing substantial contracted business. Smiths News Reports £1.04 Billion Revenue and Secures National Distribution Contracts Worth £375 Million Annually
• Positive Sentiment: Canaccord Genuity raised its target to 105p from 95p, and Berenberg lifted its target to 110p from 88p; both retained Buy ratings. Full-year results and broker updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Full-year revenue was reported at £1.04 billion, but the company’s bottom line declined. Smiths News Plc Announces Decline In Full Year Bottom Line
• Negative Sentiment: Reports attributed the profit pressure to new-contract costs, weighing on the market’s reaction to the results. This appears to be the main near-term driver of the share-price decline. Smiths News shares slide on profit hit from new contracts

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SNWS shares. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Smiths News from GBX 88 to GBX 110 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Smiths News from GBX 95 to GBX 105 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of GBX 103.33.

Smiths News Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of £177.32 million, a PE ratio of 6.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 501.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 73.77 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 69.32.

Smiths News (LON:SNWS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported GBX 11.30 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of GBX 103.62 billion for the quarter. Smiths News had a net margin of 2.59% and a return on equity of 350.65%. Equities analysts predict that Smiths News plc will post 10.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Smiths News

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. Our teams go further, when others stop, striving to meet the highest standards in all we do.