River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN - Free Report) by 64.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,032,016 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 792,829 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.46% of Smith & Nephew worth $49,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Smith & Nephew by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,480 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Smith & Nephew during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hara Capital LLC lifted its stake in Smith & Nephew by 391.4% in the 4th quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 25.64% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have weighed in on SNN. StockNews.com raised shares of Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Smith & Nephew in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Smith & Nephew from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smith & Nephew has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.00.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew Price Performance
NYSE SNN traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $28.62. The company had a trading volume of 532,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 814,166. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.17. Smith & Nephew plc has a 52 week low of $23.65 and a 52 week high of $31.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.51.
Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.447 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Smith & Nephew's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.29. Smith & Nephew's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.20%.
Smith & Nephew Company Profile
(
Free Report)
Smith & Nephew plc engages in the development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of medical devices. It operates through the following segments: Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine and ENT, and Advanced Wound Management. The Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine and ENT segment consists of the following businesses: knee implants, hip implants, other reconstruction, trauma, sports medicine joint repair, arthroscopic enabling technologies, and ENT.
See Also
Before you consider Smith & Nephew, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Smith & Nephew wasn't on the list.
While Smith & Nephew currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Need to stretch out your 401K or Roth IRA plan? Use these time-tested investing strategies to grow the monthly retirement income that your stock portfolio generates.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
