Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Cuts Position in Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE:SNN) by 46.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,104,505 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,844,022 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 0.48% of Smith & Nephew worth $51,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Smith & Nephew by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,480 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Smith & Nephew in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Hara Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Smith & Nephew by 391.4% during the 4th quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Smith & Nephew by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,975 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Smith & Nephew by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,871 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares in the last quarter. 25.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Smith & Nephew Stock Performance

Smith & Nephew stock opened at $28.03 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.96. Smith & Nephew plc has a 52 week low of $23.65 and a 52 week high of $31.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.83. 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 business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.447 per share. This is a positive change from Smith & Nephew’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.29. This represents a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Smith & Nephew’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Smith & Nephew in a report on Monday, March 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Smith & Nephew from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

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.