SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Stake in SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM - Free Report) by 122.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,723 shares of the energy company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,751 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in SM Energy were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in SM Energy by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,632,255 shares of the energy company's stock worth $179,546,000 after buying an additional 835,929 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in SM Energy by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,682,093 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $142,718,000 after acquiring an additional 296,601 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position 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. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,118,297 shares of the energy company's stock worth $82,105,000 after acquiring an additional 42,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in SM Energy by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,449,483 shares of the energy company's stock worth $56,182,000 after purchasing an additional 140,228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on SM shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 research report on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered SM Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on SM Energy from $39.00 to $24.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on SM Energy from $54.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on shares of SM Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.08.

SM Energy Stock Performance

SM traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $25.43. The stock had a trading volume of 2,004,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,013,237. SM Energy Company has a 1 year low of $19.67 and a 1 year high of $48.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

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

SM Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. SM Energy's 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.