Strs Ohio Buys 1,900 Shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,300 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in SM Energy by 59.7% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 990 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 294.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,064 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of SM Energy by 3,772.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James reduced their price target on SM Energy from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded SM Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on SM Energy from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.57.

SM Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SM opened at $50.01 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 4.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.92 and its 200 day moving average is $41.19. SM Energy has a twelve month low of $25.03 and a twelve month high of $53.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The energy company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.17. SM Energy had a net margin of 34.45% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $608.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $611.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. SM Energy’s payout ratio is 10.48%.

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.