Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Acquires 116,078 Shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 94.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 239,245 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 116,078 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. owned 0.05% of Smith & Nephew worth $5,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Scharf Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 0.5% during the first quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,996,264 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $75,985,000 after buying an additional 15,930 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Smith & Nephew by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,343,712 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $36,656,000 after acquiring an additional 44,445 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 355.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,235,916 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $31,059,000 after acquiring an additional 964,762 shares in the last quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Clark Estates Inc. NY now owns 650,000 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,732,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 100.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 300,591 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SNN has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded Smith & Nephew from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Smith & Nephew in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Smith & Nephew presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Smith & Nephew Price Performance

Smith & Nephew stock opened at $30.80 on Friday. Smith & Nephew plc has a 12 month low of $21.52 and a 12 month high of $31.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.16.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.288 per share. This is a positive change from Smith & Nephew’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.24. This represents a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date 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.