Softcat (LON:SCT) Reaches New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Softcat plc (LON:SCT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as GBX 1,836 ($23.81) and last traded at GBX 1,800.06 ($23.34), with a volume of 915201 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,623 ($21.05).

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of GBX 67.50 ($0.88) per share. This represents a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a boost from Softcat’s previous dividend of $39.00. Softcat’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SCT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Softcat from GBX 1,450 ($18.80) to GBX 1,759 ($22.81) and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Softcat in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Berenberg Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and set a GBX 1,600 ($20.75) price objective on shares of Softcat in a research report on Wednesday.

Softcat Stock Down 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of £3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 1,557.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 1,563.98.

Softcat (LON:SCT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The company reported GBX 28.70 ($0.37) EPS for the quarter. Softcat had a return on equity of 43.79% and a net margin of 12.37%. Equities research analysts predict that Softcat plc will post 60.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Softcat news, insider Jacqui Ferguson acquired 3,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 1,470 ($19.06) per share, for a total transaction of £44,658.60 ($57,907.94). Also, insider Graham Charlton sold 15,380 shares of Softcat stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 1,489 ($19.31), for a total value of £229,008.20 ($296,950.47). In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 3,067 shares of company stock valued at $4,511,098. Corporate insiders own 43.60% of the company’s stock.

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.