Strs Ohio Makes New $539,000 Investment in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 18,000 shares of SM Energy Company, valued at approximately $539,000, highlighting growing institutional interest in the company.
• SM Energy recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.50 EPS, surpassing estimates, and announced a $0.20 quarterly dividend, representing a yield of 3.1%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for SM Energy, with an average target price of $42.08 and varying assessments from strong buy to underperform.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 18,000 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 123,349 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,694,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 104,654 shares of the energy company's stock worth $3,134,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 375,916 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $11,259,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in SM Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:SM traded up $0.17 on Monday, hitting $25.83. 2,274,202 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,751,375. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $46.42. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 2.47.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $792.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $44.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.08.

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.