SM Energy Company $SM Holdings Lifted by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in SM Energy Company by 38.4% in Q1, now holding 461,618 shares worth approximately $13.8 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly increased their holdings in SM Energy, with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. growing its stake by 69.5% and Brooklyn Investment Group by 1,097.9% during the same quarter.
• SM Energy recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.50 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20, reflecting a 2.8% dividend yield.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 38.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 461,618 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 128,026 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.40% of SM Energy worth $13,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,269,443 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $457,320,000 after purchasing an additional 69,933 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,909,004 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $117,075,000 after purchasing an additional 226,911 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 51.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 3,207,245 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $96,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,948 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 169.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,873,860 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $56,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SM Energy by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,558,569 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $46,679,000 after purchasing an additional 391,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company's stock.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SM traded down $1.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.87. 1,801,731 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,644,487. 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 Company has a 12 month low of $19.67 and a 12 month high of $46.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.03 and a 200-day moving average of $26.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 2.46.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. SM Energy's dividend payout ratio is 11.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SM. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of SM Energy from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of SM Energy from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of SM Energy from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of SM Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.50.

SM Energy Company 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.