Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires New Shares in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 76,123 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $2,280,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.07% of SM Energy at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in SM Energy by 145.1% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 20,393 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 12,074 shares during the period. Gallacher Capital Management LLC increased its stake in SM Energy by 149.3% in the 1st quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 20,458 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 12,252 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in SM Energy by 349.4% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 20,642 shares of the energy company's stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 16,049 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 53.1% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 172,344 shares of the energy company's stock worth $5,162,000 after purchasing an additional 59,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in SM Energy by 11.4% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 218,150 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $6,534,000 after purchasing an additional 22,389 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial downgraded SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Susquehanna increased their target price on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.33.

SM Energy Price Performance

SM stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $27.64. 2,601,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,848,101. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.84. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. SM Energy Company has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $47.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.26. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 27.61%. The company's revenue was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.20%.

SM Energy Profile

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.