Stifel Financial Corp Has $1.19 Million Stock Holdings in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,292 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,893 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Smith & Nephew were worth $1,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 2,032,016 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $49,947,000 after buying an additional 792,829 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Smith & Nephew by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,363,039 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,504,000 after buying an additional 138,994 shares during the last quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY lifted its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY now owns 800,000 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $19,664,000 after acquiring an additional 115,000 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Smith & Nephew by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 535,350 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $13,159,000 after purchasing an additional 57,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Smith & Nephew in the 4th quarter valued at $11,820,000. 25.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Smith & Nephew from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. HSBC cut shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Smith & Nephew from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

Smith & Nephew Price Performance

SNN stock opened at $28.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.59 and a 200-day moving average of $26.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.68. Smith & Nephew plc has a 12 month low of $23.69 and a 12 month high of $31.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.447 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Smith & Nephew’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Smith & Nephew’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.20%.

About Smith & Nephew

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.