Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 18,422 Shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 33.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,796 shares of the energy company's stock after buying an additional 18,422 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.06% of SM Energy worth $2,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SM. Parallel Advisors LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in SM Energy by 172.8% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the energy company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased 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 during the period. CWM LLC increased 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 during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in SM Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $164,000. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna upped their target price on SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp lowered their price target on SM Energy from $60.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho cut their price target on SM Energy from $46.00 to $42.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SM Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.33.

SM Energy Stock Up 1.3%

SM traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $27.76. 361,000 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,296,676. SM Energy Company has a one year low of $19.67 and a one year high of $47.69. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $25.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.45.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.16. SM Energy had a net margin of 27.61% and a return on equity of 19.90%. The business had revenue of $844.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. SM Energy's quarterly revenue was up 50.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.20%.

SM Energy 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.