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

Softcat plc (LON:SCT) shares traded up 11.4% on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as GBX 1,710 ($22.20) and last traded at GBX 1,706 ($22.15). 7,701,057 shares changed hands 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of GBX 39 ($0.51) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This is an increase from Softcat’s previous dividend of $8.50. This represents a dividend yield of 2.55%. Softcat’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,642.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Softcat to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from GBX 1,950 ($25.32) to GBX 1,490 ($19.35) in a report on Friday, July 5th. Shore Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Softcat in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a GBX 1,250 ($16.23) price objective on shares of Softcat in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 1,442.50 ($18.73).

Softcat Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 1,544.51 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 1,611.35. The company has a market capitalization of £3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,010.71, a P/E/G ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.57.

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.