American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in SM Energy by 6.2%, holding 3.91 million shares worth approximately $117 million.
• SM Energy reported $1.50 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.23, with a revenue increase of 25% year-over-year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing a 3.1% annual yield with a payout ratio of 11.30%.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,909,004 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 226,911 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 3.42% of SM Energy worth $117,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 747 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 933 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 679 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 955 shares during the period. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

SM Energy Stock Up 5.9%

Shares of NYSE SM traded up $1.5350 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.4550. 871,818 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,264,265. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 2.29. SM Energy Company has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $47.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. SM Energy had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 25.94%.The business had revenue of $792.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. SM Energy's revenue was up 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.30%.

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.