Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Institutional Trading of Smith & Nephew

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scharf Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,980,334 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $81,304,000 after purchasing an additional 506,474 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 17.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 36,315 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 5,384 shares during the last quarter. Seed Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Smith & Nephew during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Smith & Nephew during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,054,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 343.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,364,037 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $58,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,830,965 shares during the last quarter. 25.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smith & Nephew Stock Performance

NYSE SNN opened at $24.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.92 and a 200 day moving average of $26.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Smith & Nephew has a twelve month low of $21.52 and a twelve month high of $32.81.

Smith & Nephew Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.462 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. This represents a yield of 2.8%.

Smith & Nephew Company Profile

Smith & Nephew plc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells medical devices and services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates through three segments: Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine & ENT, and Advanced Wound Management. The company offers knee implant products for knee replacement procedures; hip implants for revision procedures; trauma and extremities products that include internal and external devices used in the stabilization of severe fractures and deformity correction procedures; and other reconstruction products.