SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) Shares Purchased by Foundry Partners LLC

Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 218,150 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,389 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC owned approximately 0.19% of SM Energy worth $6,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of SM Energy by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $179,546,000 after purchasing an additional 835,929 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company's stock worth $142,718,000 after purchasing an additional 296,601 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in SM Energy by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,683,131 shares of the energy company's stock worth $103,998,000 after purchasing an additional 767,779 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in SM Energy by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,118,297 shares of the energy company's stock worth $82,105,000 after purchasing an additional 42,297 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of SM Energy by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,449,483 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $56,182,000 after acquiring an additional 140,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Trading Down 2.9%

NYSE:SM traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.89. 1,859,479 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,990,381. The firm's fifty day moving average is $25.57 and its 200-day moving average is $29.65. SM Energy Company has a 12-month low of $19.67 and a 12-month high of $47.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.63 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 27.61%. The company had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. SM Energy's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 EPS for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Susquehanna cut their price target on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on SM Energy from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.08.

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.