Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company.

Several analysts have recently commented on SNN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Smith & Nephew from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Smith & Nephew in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Institutional Trading of Smith & Nephew

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SNN. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 355.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,235,916 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,059,000 after acquiring an additional 964,762 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 599,981 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,476,000 after acquiring an additional 300,591 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 80.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 592,734 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,152,000 after acquiring an additional 263,641 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,373,051 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,002,000 after acquiring an additional 233,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 58.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 524,602 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,995,000 after acquiring an additional 193,046 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 25.64% of the company’s stock.

Smith & Nephew Trading Down 1.2 %

SNN stock opened at $30.57 on Friday. Smith & Nephew has a one year low of $21.52 and a one year high of $31.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $30.09 and a 200-day moving average of $27.09.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.288 dividend. This is a boost from Smith & Nephew’s previous dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th.

About Smith & Nephew

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.