Northern Trust Corp Lowers Stake in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its holdings in SM Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter, now owning 1,398,391 shares worth approximately $41.88 million.
• SM Energy reported a quarterly EPS of $1.50, exceeding expectations and posting a year-over-year revenue increase of 25%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.8%.

Northern Trust Corp cut its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,398,391 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 51,092 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.22% of SM Energy worth $41,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of SM Energy by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,718 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in SM Energy by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,688 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in SM Energy by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 21,258 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in SM Energy by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,534 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in SM Energy by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 103,185 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $4,001,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 94.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

SM Energy Stock Up 2.1%

SM traded up $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.15. 735,615 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,239,604. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $26.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. SM Energy Company has a 12-month low of $19.67 and a 12-month high of $46.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 2.47.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's payout ratio is presently 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.