Congress Asset Management Co. Raises Stock Position in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,259,627 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 172,161 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 1.10% of SM Energy worth $37,726,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 200.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,179 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 517.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,140 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 64.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,730 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Finally, Numerai GP LLC bought a new position in SM Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. 94.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on SM shares. Williams Trading set a $41.00 price target on shares of SM Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of SM Energy from $45.00 to $33.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.42.

SM Energy Trading Up 3.6%

NYSE:SM traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.88. 1,201,520 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,992,726. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 2.19. SM Energy has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $50.20. The firm's 50 day moving average is $23.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.62. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that SM Energy will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.