Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Boosts Stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,900 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $2,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 3,772.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 24,300 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in SM Energy by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,471 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in SM Energy by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 151,869 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $5,880,000 after acquiring an additional 24,371 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in SM Energy by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,966 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SM Energy Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SM traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $45.60. 343,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,742,322. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a one year low of $34.13 and a one year high of $53.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.20.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The energy company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 31.80%. The business had revenue of $634.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $616.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that SM Energy will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SM. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Tudor Pickering upgraded SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on SM Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Four research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.22.

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.