SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Bought by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 19.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,581 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,545 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $2,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,614,000. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 1,733.5% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 102,307 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after acquiring an additional 96,727 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $710,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 198,380 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $7,681,000 after acquiring an additional 21,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of SM Energy by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 593,241 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,646,000 after acquiring an additional 27,405 shares in the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered SM Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho dropped their price target on SM Energy from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Tudor Pickering raised SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on SM Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.22.

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM opened at $39.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 4.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. SM Energy has a 12 month low of $34.13 and a 12 month high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. 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 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.29%.

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.