Nuveen LLC Purchases New Position in SM Energy Company $SM

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has invested approximately $18.91 million in SM Energy, acquiring 631,370 shares, representing about 0.55% of the company's total shares.
• SM Energy reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.50, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenues of $792.94 million, up by 25.0% from the previous year.
• The company recently paid a $0.20 per share quarterly dividend, yielding 3.1%, with a low payout ratio of 11.30% indicating a stable financial position.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 631,370 shares of the energy company's stock, valued at approximately $18,910,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.55% of SM Energy as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

SM Energy Price Performance

Shares of SM stock traded up $1.7950 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.7150. 2,246,633 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,050,518. SM Energy Company has a fifty-two week low of $19.67 and a fifty-two week high of $47.69. The stock's fifty day moving average is $26.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.23. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $792.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.58 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 25.94% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company'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. Sell-side analysts forecast that SM Energy Company will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SM Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.30%.

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.