| Snowflake Score | |
|---|---|
| Valuation | 3/6 |
| Future Growth | 5/6 |
| Past Performance | 0/6 |
| Financial Health | 1/6 |
| Dividends | 0/6 |
SMWH Stock Overview
WH Smith PLC operates as a retailer in the United Kingdom and internationally.
WH Smith Competitors
Price History & Performance
| Historical stock prices | |
|---|---|
| Current Share Price | UK£14.62 |
| 52 Week High | UK£18.10 |
| 52 Week Low | UK£12.60 |
| Beta | 1.63 |
| 1 Month Change | 3.95% |
| 3 Month Change | 1.60% |
| 1 Year Change | -12.22% |
| 3 Year Change | -26.26% |
| 5 Year Change | -19.48% |
| Change since IPO | 282.44% |
Recent News & Updates
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Is WH Smith (LON:SMWH) A Risky Investment?
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Should You Investigate WH Smith PLC (LON:SMWH) At UK£14.56?
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Shareholder Returns
| SMWH | GB Specialty Retail | GB Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7D | 3.0% | -0.5% | -0.6% |
| 1Y | -12.2% | -22.2% | -11.2% |
Return vs Industry: SMWH exceeded the UK Specialty Retail industry which returned -20.2% over the past year.
Return vs Market: SMWH underperformed the UK Market which returned -6.4% over the past year.
Price Volatility
| SMWH volatility | |
|---|---|
| SMWH Average Weekly Movement | 5.3% |
| Specialty Retail Industry Average Movement | 6.2% |
| Market Average Movement | 5.4% |
| 10% most volatile stocks in GB Market | 10.8% |
| 10% least volatile stocks in GB Market | 2.7% |
Stable Share Price: SMWH is not significantly more volatile than the rest of UK stocks over the past 3 months, typically moving +/- 5% a week.
Volatility Over Time: SMWH's weekly volatility (5%) has been stable over the past year.
About the Company
| Founded | Employees | CEO | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1792 | 11,000 | Carl Cowling | https://www.whsmithplc.co.uk |
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.
WH Smith Fundamentals Summary
| SMWH fundamental statistics | |
|---|---|
| Market Cap | UK£1.91b |
| Earnings (TTM) | -UK£35.00m |
| Revenue (TTM) | UK£1.07b |
1.8x
P/S Ratio-54.5x
P/E RatioIs SMWH overvalued?
See Fair Value and valuation analysisEarnings & Revenue
| SMWH income statement (TTM) | |
|---|---|
| Revenue | UK£1.07b |
| Cost of Revenue | UK£429.00m |
| Gross Profit | UK£645.00m |
| Other Expenses | UK£680.00m |
| Earnings | -UK£35.00m |
Last Reported Earnings
Feb 28, 2022
Next Earnings Date
n/a
| Earnings per share (EPS) | -0.27 |
| Gross Margin | 60.06% |
| Net Profit Margin | -3.26% |
| Debt/Equity Ratio | 201.9% |
How did SMWH perform over the long term?
See historical performance and comparisonValuation
Is SMWH undervalued compared to its fair value, analyst forecasts and its price relative to the market?
Valuation Score
3/6Valuation Score 3/6
Price-To-Sales vs Peers
Price-To-Sales vs Industry
Price-To-Sales vs Fair Ratio
Below Fair Value
Significantly Below Fair Value
Analyst Forecast
Key Valuation Metric
Which metric is best to use when looking at relative valuation for SMWH?
Other financial metrics that can be useful for relative valuation.
| What is SMWH's n/a Ratio? | |
|---|---|
| n/a Ratio | 0x |
| n/a | n/a |
| Market Cap | UK£1.91b |
| Key Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Enterprise Value/Revenue | 2.5x |
| Enterprise Value/EBITDA | 51.2x |
| PEG Ratio | n/a |
Price to Sales Ratio vs Peers
How does SMWH's PS Ratio compare to its peers?
| SMWH PS Ratio vs Peers |
|---|
| Company | PS | Estimated Growth | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peer Average | 1.1x | ||
PETS at Home Group | 1.3x | 4.3% | UK£1.7b |
WOSG Watches of Switzerland Group | 1.6x | 13.1% | UK£2.0b |
FRAS Frasers Group | 0.9x | 7.7% | UK£4.1b |
JD. JD Sports Fashion | 0.8x | 4.5% | UK£6.5b |
SMWH WH Smith | 1.8x | 9.9% | UK£1.9b |
Price-To-Sales vs Peers: SMWH is expensive based on its Price-To-Sales Ratio (1.8x) compared to the peer average (1.1x).
Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry
How does SMWH's PE Ratio compare vs other companies in the GB Specialty Retail Industry?
Price-To-Sales vs Industry: SMWH is expensive based on its Price-To-Sales Ratio (1.8x) compared to the UK Specialty Retail industry average (0.3x)
Price to Sales Ratio vs Fair Ratio
What is SMWH's PS Ratio compared to its Fair PS Ratio? This is the expected PS Ratio taking into account the company's forecast earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors.
| Fair Ratio | |
|---|---|
| Current PS Ratio | 1.8x |
| Fair PS Ratio | 1.8x |
Price-To-Sales vs Fair Ratio: SMWH is good value based on its Price-To-Sales Ratio (1.8x) compared to the estimated Fair Price-To-Sales Ratio (1.8x).
Share Price vs Fair Value
What is the Fair Price of SMWH when looking at its future cash flows? For this estimate we use a Discounted Cash Flow model.
Below Fair Value: SMWH (£14.62) is trading below our estimate of fair value (£15.15)
Significantly Below Fair Value: SMWH is trading below fair value, but not by a significant amount.
Analyst Price Targets
What is the analyst 12-month forecast and do we have any statistical confidence in the consensus price target?
Analyst Forecast: Target price is more than 20% higher than the current share price and analysts are within a statistically confident range of agreement.
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Future Growth
How is WH Smith forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 10 analysts?
Future Growth Score
5/6Future Growth Score 5/6
Earnings vs Savings Rate
Earnings vs Market
High Growth Earnings
Revenue vs Market
High Growth Revenue
Future ROE
43.7%
Forecasted annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts
Analyst Future Growth Forecasts
Earnings vs Savings Rate: SMWH is forecast to become profitable over the next 3 years, which is considered faster growth than the savings rate (0.9%).
Earnings vs Market: SMWH is forecast to become profitable over the next 3 years, which is considered above average market growth.
High Growth Earnings: SMWH is expected to become profitable in the next 3 years.
Revenue vs Market: SMWH's revenue (9.9% per year) is forecast to grow faster than the UK market (4% per year).
High Growth Revenue: SMWH's revenue (9.9% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.
Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts
Future Return on Equity
Future ROE: SMWH's Return on Equity is forecast to be high in 3 years time (26.7%)
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Past Performance
How has WH Smith performed over the past 5 years?
Past Performance Score
0/6Past Performance Score 0/6
Quality Earnings
Growing Profit Margin
Earnings Trend
Accelerating Growth
Earnings vs Industry
High ROE
-54.0%
Historical annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue History
Quality Earnings: SMWH is currently unprofitable.
Growing Profit Margin: SMWH is currently unprofitable.
Past Earnings Growth Analysis
Earnings Trend: SMWH is unprofitable, and losses have increased over the past 5 years at a rate of 54% per year.
Accelerating Growth: Unable to compare SMWH's earnings growth over the past year to its 5-year average as it is currently unprofitable
Earnings vs Industry: SMWH is unprofitable, making it difficult to compare its past year earnings growth to the Specialty Retail industry (46.2%).
Return on Equity
High ROE: SMWH has a negative Return on Equity (-14.9%), as it is currently unprofitable.
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Financial Health
How is WH Smith's financial position?
Financial Health Score
1/6Financial Health Score 1/6
Short Term Liabilities
Long Term Liabilities
Debt Level
Reducing Debt
Debt Coverage
Interest Coverage
Financial Position Analysis
Short Term Liabilities: SMWH's short term assets (£290.0M) do not cover its short term liabilities (£357.0M).
Long Term Liabilities: SMWH's short term assets (£290.0M) do not cover its long term liabilities (£789.0M).
Debt to Equity History and Analysis
Debt Level: SMWH's net debt to equity ratio (159.6%) is considered high.
Reducing Debt: SMWH's debt to equity ratio has increased from 26% to 201.9% over the past 5 years.
Debt Coverage: SMWH's debt is well covered by operating cash flow (27.6%).
Interest Coverage: SMWH's interest payments on its debt are not well covered by EBIT (0.6x coverage).
Balance Sheet
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Dividend
What is WH Smith current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?
Dividend Score
0/6Dividend Score 0/6
Notable Dividend
High Dividend
Stable Dividend
Growing Dividend
Earnings Coverage
Cash Flow Coverage
1.64%
Forecast Dividend Yield
Dividend Yield vs Market
Notable Dividend: Unable to evaluate SMWH's dividend yield against the bottom 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.
High Dividend: Unable to evaluate SMWH's dividend yield against the top 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.
Stability and Growth of Payments
Stable Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if SMWH's dividends per share have been stable in the past.
Growing Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if SMWH's dividend payments have been increasing.
Earnings Payout to Shareholders
Earnings Coverage: SMWH is not paying a notable dividend for the UK market.
Cash Payout to Shareholders
Cash Flow Coverage: Unable to calculate sustainability of dividends as SMWH has not reported any payouts.
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Management
How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?
9.1yrs
Average management tenure
CEO
Carl Cowling
2.75yrs
Tenure
UK£1,183,000
Compensation
Mr. Carl D. Cowling has been Group Chief Executive at WH Smith PLC since November 01, 2019. Mr. Cowling served as Managing Director of High Street Business at WH Smith PLC since 2017 until November 01, 201...
CEO Compensation Analysis
Compensation vs Market: Carl's total compensation ($USD1.43M) is about average for companies of similar size in the UK market ($USD1.91M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Carl's compensation has increased whilst the company is unprofitable.
Leadership Team
Experienced Management: SMWH's management team is seasoned and experienced (9.1 years average tenure).
Board Members
Experienced Board: SMWH's board of directors are considered experienced (3.5 years average tenure).
Ownership
Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?
Insider Trading Volume
Insider Buying: Insufficient data to determine if insiders have bought more shares than they have sold in the past 3 months.
Recent Insider Transactions
Ownership Breakdown
Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have not been meaningfully diluted in the past year.
Top Shareholders
Company Information
WH Smith PLC's employee growth, exchange listings and data sources
Key Information
- Name: WH Smith PLC
- Ticker: SMWH
- Exchange: LSE
- Founded: 1792
- Industry: Specialty Stores
- Sector: Retail
- Implied Market Cap: UK£1.909b
- Shares outstanding: 130.61m
- Website: https://www.whsmithplc.co.uk
Number of Employees
Location
- WH Smith PLC
- Greenbridge Road
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
- SN3 3RX
- United Kingdom
Listings
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2022/08/09 00:00 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2022/08/09 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2022/02/28 |
| Annual Earnings | 2021/08/31 |
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.