SM Energy (NYSE:SM) Shares Bought by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 118.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 252,017 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,628 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in SM Energy were worth $10,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,509,379 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $213,326,000 after purchasing an additional 493,427 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,593,103 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $61,685,000 after purchasing an additional 64,781 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 20.0% during the 1st 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,335,624 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $57,739,000 after buying an additional 4,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 22.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 198,473 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on SM Energy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on SM Energy from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.22.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SM traded down $1.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $45.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,474,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,731,095. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.55. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 4.20. SM Energy has a one year low of $34.13 and a one year high of $53.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.28. SM Energy had a net margin of 31.80% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $634.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $616.63 million. During the same quarter 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 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. 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.