Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stake in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in SM Energy Company by 16.9% during the first quarter, owning 446,759 shares valued at approximately $13.36 million.
• Several institutional investors raised their stakes in SM Energy, with notable increases including 114.1% by Russell Investments Group and 73.1% by Caitong International Asset Management Co.
• SM Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.1%.

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 446,759 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 64,648 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.39% of SM Energy worth $13,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 200.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 172.8% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 933 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 80.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,520 shares of the energy company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 73.1% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,899 shares of the energy company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 34.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,760 shares of the energy company's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.50.

SM Energy Trading Up 1.3%

SM stock traded up $0.3310 during trading on Thursday, hitting $25.8410. The company had a trading volume of 2,023,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,025,233. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 2.29. SM Energy Company has a 52-week low of $19.67 and a 52-week high of $47.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The firm's revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.