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

Softcat plc (LON:SCT) rose 11.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as GBX 1,710 ($22.20) and last traded at GBX 1,706 ($22.15). Approximately 7,701,057 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1,506% from the average daily 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a GBX 39 ($0.51) dividend. This is a positive change from Softcat’s previous dividend of $8.50. This represents a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Softcat’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,642.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Softcat Trading Up 1.8 %

The company has a market cap of £3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,064.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 1,546.02 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 1,611.90. 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.