Softcat (LON:SCT) Stock Price Up 11.4% Following Dividend Announcement

Softcat plc (LON:SCT - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 11.4% on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as GBX 1,710 ($22.20) and last traded at GBX 1,706 ($22.15). 7,701,057 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1,506% from the average session volume of 479,536 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,532 ($19.89).

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a GBX 39 ($0.51) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is a positive change from Softcat's previous dividend of $8.50. This represents a yield of 2.55%. Softcat's payout ratio is currently 4,642.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SCT. Jefferies Financial Group cut Softcat to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from GBX 1,950 ($25.32) to GBX 1,490 ($19.35) in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Shore Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Softcat in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a GBX 1,250 ($16.23) target price on shares of Softcat in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of GBX 1,442.50 ($18.73).

Softcat Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average price is GBX 1,541.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 1,610.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.57. The firm has a market capitalization of £3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,029.00, a PEG ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.71.

About Softcat

Softcat plc operates as a value-added IT reseller and IT infrastructure solutions provider in the United Kingdom. The company advices, procures, designs, implements, and manages technology, such as software licensing, workplace technology, networking, security, and cloud and datacenter for businesses and public sector organizations.