Brokerages Set WH Smith PLC (LON:SMWH) Target Price at GBX 570

WH Smith PLC (LON:SMWH) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is GBX 570.

A number of research firms recently commented on SMWH. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on WH Smith from GBX 680 to GBX 555 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 600 target price on shares of WH Smith in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on WH Smith from GBX 550 to GBX 390 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Berenberg Bank lowered their price target on WH Smith from GBX 574 to GBX 420 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on WH Smith from GBX 700 to GBX 575 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th.

Insider Activity at WH Smith

In related news, insider Max Izzard purchased 36,585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 410 per share, for a total transaction of £149,998.50. Also, insider Simon Emeny purchased 5,000 shares of WH Smith stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 398 per share, for a total transaction of £19,900. Insiders have bought a total of 436,832 shares of company stock valued at $179,485,200 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WH Smith Stock Performance

LON SMWH opened at GBX 431 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is GBX 422.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 528.67. The firm has a market capitalization of £648.65 million, a P/E ratio of -4.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 846.40, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.33. WH Smith has a fifty-two week low of GBX 378.60 and a fifty-two week high of GBX 1,120.

WH Smith Company Profile

WH Smith PLC operates as a retailer in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in two segments, Travel and High Street. The Travel segment offers news, books, and convenience for travelling customers. It operates stores in airports, hospitals, railway stations, and motorway service areas. The High Street segment sells stationery products, including greeting cards, general stationery, art and craft, and gifting products; news and impulse products, such as newspapers, magazines, confectionery, and drinks; and books.