Royce & Associates LP Increases Holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 5.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 217,879 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,153 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $8,709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in SM Energy by 461.9% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 590 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 872 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3,434.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,025 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM stock opened at $43.33 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 4.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $42.19 and its 200 day moving average is $44.81. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. SM Energy has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. The business had revenue of $643.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s payout ratio is presently 11.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on SM Energy from $48.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SM Energy from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho cut their price objective on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.73.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.