Wexford Capital LP Buys Shares of 22,000 Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 22,000 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 229.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,215 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 52,411 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 17,557 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 2,798 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $431,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Smith & Nephew by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in Smith & Nephew during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,847,000. 25.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Smith & Nephew Stock Performance

SNN stock opened at $28.83 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.27. Smith & Nephew plc has a one year low of $23.69 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.

Smith & Nephew Increases Dividend

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