Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys 27,633 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 311.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,501 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,633 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in SM Energy by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $213,326,000 after acquiring an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $61,685,000 after buying an additional 64,781 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 20.0% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,552,004 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $77,367,000 after buying an additional 258,733 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,335,624 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $57,739,000 after buying an additional 4,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,077,231 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $41,710,000 after buying an additional 198,473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, SM Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.22.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM Energy stock opened at $38.86 on Wednesday. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $53.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 4.19.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.29%.

SM Energy Profile

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.