WH Smith (SMWH) Share Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. The company sells its products through digital channels, such as whsmith.co.uk, funkypigeon.com, cultpens.com and dottyaboutpaper.co.uk. The company was founded in 1792 and is based in Swindon, the United Kingdom.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: 964.50 to 996
• 50-Day Range: 888 to 1,099
• 52-Week Range: 872.50 to 1,499
• Volume: 7.95 million shs
• Average Volume: 635,659 shs
• Market Capitalization: £1.27 billion
• P/E Ratio: 20.33
• Dividend Yield: 3.25%
• Price Target: GBX 1,456.67
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

WH Smith Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

WH Smith scored higher than 65% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

WH Smith has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.67, and is based on 2 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

WH Smith has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: N/A

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of WH Smith is 19.83, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 21.91.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of WH Smith is 19.83, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Cyclical sector average P/E ratio of about 20.42.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

WH Smith has a PEG Ratio of 2.65. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

WH Smith has a P/B Ratio of 2.82. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: N/A
• Short Interest Level: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for SMWH.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

WH Smith pays a meaningful dividend of 2.67%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

WH Smith does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of WH Smith is 66.01%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for SMWH.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.1 / 5
• News Sentiment: N/A

News Sentiment

WH Smith has a news sentiment score of 0.84. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.58 average news sentiment score of Consumer Cyclical companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 1 news article for WH Smith this week, compared to 1 article on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: Acquiring Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, WH Smith insiders have bought more of their company's stock than they have sold. Specifically, they have bought £10,006.20 in company stock and sold GBX 0 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 1.21% of the stock of WH Smith is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

91.18% of the stock of WH Smith is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

SMWH Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have SMWH shares performed this year?

WH Smith's stock was trading at GBX 1,189 at the beginning of 2025. Since then, SMWH shares have decreased by 19.2% and is now trading at GBX 961.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were WH Smith's earnings last quarter?

WH Smith PLC (LON:SMWH) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April, 16th. The company reported $23.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. WH Smith had a net margin of 3.44% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 17.78%.
Read the conference call transcript.

How do I buy shares of WH Smith?

Shares of SMWH stock and other U.K. stocks can be purchased through online brokerage accounts that support trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSX). Some U.K. companies can be purchased through major U.S. brokerages in the form of American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which are placeholder equities held in a trust by a bank that represent shares of a foreign stock.

What other stocks do shareholders of WH Smith own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that WH Smith investors own include Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), Barclays (BARC), Babcock International Group (BAB), BP (BP), Aviva (AV), Glencore (GLEN) and HSBC (HSBA).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/16/2025
• Today: 5/11/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: LON
• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Industry: Specialty Retail
• Sub-Industry: Personal Services
• Current Symbol: LON:SMWH
• Previous Symbol: LON:NWS
• CIK: N/A
• Web: www.whsmithplc.co.uk
• Phone: +44-1793-616161
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 14,935
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: GBX 1,456.67
• High Stock Price Target: GBX 1,600
• Low Stock Price Target: GBX 1,310
• Potential Upside/Downside: +51.6%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.67
• Research Coverage: 3 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): GBX 48.47
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 19.83
• Forward P/E Ratio: 9.52
• P/E Growth: 2.65
• Net Income: £63.01 million
• Net Margins: 3.44%
• Pretax Margin: N/A
• Return on Equity: 17.78%
• Return on Assets: 6.62%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 253.13
• Current Ratio: 0.85
• Quick Ratio: 0.42

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: £1.83 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.68
• Cash Flow: GBX 66.90 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 14.36
• Book Value: GBX 341.06 per share
• Price / Book: 2.82

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 128,752,168
• Free Float: N/A
• Market Cap: £1.24 billion
• Optionable: Not Optionable
• Beta: 1.67