846,844 Shares in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 846,844 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $25,363,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.74% of SM Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in SM Energy by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 12.7% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 8,355 shares of the energy company's stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,258 shares of the energy company's stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its position in SM Energy by 16.9% in the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 25,119 shares of the energy company's stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrust Bank NA purchased a new position in SM Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $396,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen raised SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial downgraded SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.08.

SM Energy Trading Up 3.5%

SM Energy stock traded up $0.90 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.61. 961,238 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,318,602. SM Energy Company has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $48.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $25.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.88.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 27.61%. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 50.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. SM Energy's payout ratio is presently 11.20%.

SM Energy Company 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.