SM Energy Company $SM Shares Purchased by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. significantly increased its holdings in SM Energy Company by 169.4%, acquiring an additional 1,178,397 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing their total ownership to approximately $56 million.
• SM Energy reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.50, surpassing analyst expectations and indicating a 25% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20, which translates to an annualized yield of 3.1%, reflecting a payout ratio of 11.30%.

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 169.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,873,860 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 1,178,397 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.64% of SM Energy worth $56,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in SM Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,970 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,915 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $9,880,000 after buying an additional 4,697 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy by 196.5% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 18,878 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 12,511 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of SM Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,526,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $103,998,000 after buying an additional 767,779 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SM Energy Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE SM traded up $0.3080 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $25.8180. 815,903 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,264,346. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 2.29. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $26.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.38. SM Energy Company has a 52 week low of $19.67 and a 52 week high of $47.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The energy company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 25.94%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.